Darius Byramji trained Adesina edged out Cedros in a close finish to win the Gr 3 Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Trophy, the main event of the concluding day’s races on Friday. Despite being a horse of immense potential, Adesina, a full sister to the celebrated River God, had shone only in patches. The daughter of Razeen was well placed in scales to win though one good run was followed by a surprisingly poor performance right through her career.

The market favored Aashirwaad as he had done exceedingly well in his last run. However, Aashirwaad did not run to expectation as jockey Malesh Narredu never got the progeny of Placerville to settle down and as a result, the favourite ran an unsettled race to finally finish less than three lengths of the winner. Cedros, who had seized the initiative inside the final furlong, lost in the shadow of the post to Adesina. The blinkers seemed to have helped Cedros and his performance was definitely an improvement on his previous essay Cedros hit the front as the starter dispatched the field for the seven-furlong trip, with Parthenon racing second ahead of Adesina and Aashirwaad.

Jockey Malesh Narredu put a restraint on Aashirwaad when the horse was keen and then dropped the horse a few lengths adrift of the last horse. When the pace quickened, Aashirwaad was left to cover lot of ground. In the straight, the jockey failed to get Aashirwaad to run on an even keel and the horse appeared to run green but finished on to be third. Cedros failed to sustain the challenge even as Adesina was hard-pressed to pass the front-runner. Cedros had the support of the rails right through but the fact that it had rained had ensured that the ground was cut up there more than on the outside.

Malesh Narredu has been somewhat of an enigma because when he gets the horse going, he is a good sight to watch but often, for some inexplicable reasons, he seems to be all at sea.Aashirwaad was kept under observation but the veterinary report said that nothing was amiss with the favourite. Padmanabhan trained Sloane Square whom Suraj Narredu poorly handled when he lost as a favourite at cramped odds, showed out in different colors in the hands of jockey Gnaneshwar. Sloan Square went clear of the field in the final furlong to win as she pleased in a good time of one minute 28.2 seconds which was half a second faster than that clocked by, Adesina, the seasoned performer who won the Graded race of the day.

Fantabulous Prince who finished a noteworthy second, should strike before long. Mucho and Golden Circle, who finished behind, are also ready to make their presence felt. Sunny’s Instinct was rewarded for her consistency as she held off a challenge of Hurricane Rose quite capably to win the Good-Bye Stakes (Div I). Sunny’s Instinct, who burst into the lead at the top of the straight, went clear before the others could pick up momentum and checked in well clear. Stoli Orange, who received inspired support, finished a miserable last. The lower division of the race went the way of Oojah who was the market rage. Running Thunder could have finished second but for interference from Onegina. However, Running Thunder got the second spot on a successful objection lodged by Gnaneshwar against jockey Christopher who rode Onegina for interference.

Jockey Malesh Narredu who guided home Oojah, won on another on-money favourite in My Turn who won the Mount Everest Trophy (Div II) with a start to finish dash. Wile Wench chased the winner without putting the front-runner in any deal of threat. Suraj Narredu failed to get off to a good start on favourite Handiwork who lost all his chances at the start. Though the jockey quickly moved on Handiwork to be in touch with the leaders, that effort cost the favourite dear as she packed up before the race took a serious turn. Chaila Babu who led all the way, was overhauled close home by Regal Royale. Prakash who finished well clear of C. Alford in the jockeys’ championship stakes, had another winner apart from Regal Royale. Prakash drove out Lady Superior to victory over Sensitive Prince in the concluding race of the day.

Sensitive Prince who has often let down as a fancied runner, ran a game race, refusing to give up, and losing only after a dogged fight.Incidentally, both the winners of Prakash came from trainer Karan Singh’s yard. Favourite Amazing Senorita played up at the gates and was withdrawn from the fray. Rain God shaped to cause a big upset but the well-fancied The Force charged home to win with a measure of comfort. The Force thus helped veteran trainer Darashah saddle a brace of winners as earlier in the day, he had saddled Sunny’s Instinct to victory. Darashah, who is grooming his son Neil to take over from him, has reduced his string in Bangalore and will be seen more in action at his home center, Mysore in future. The trainer will also have under his care the horses from turf baron Dr M A M Ramaswamy.