After yesterday's showers, bright sunshine greeted race goers at The Mysore Race Club on Friday. The track was lush green, the going was good and a card of eight events was conducted during the afternoon. The Star Of Mysore Gold Cup, a seven furlong handicap for horses in class II, happened to be the day's feature. With more than half of the dozen acceptors making their way from Bangalore to have a tilt at this trophy, this race had the makings of a thriller. After a fairly forward run against horses in the highest category, Dominic trained Lad King was competing in the lower class. The heavy impost assigned to him was partially reduced with the presence of apprentice Noornabi in the saddle. On paper, he looked better than the others. Punters displayed a great liking for Lad King and backed him down to even-money favouritism, while Top Secret, Absolut Grey and Make My Day had silent support from their respective camps. The only thing against Top Secret was the fact that he was appearing after a longish gap from a race track. Absolut Grey was running over a trip that was considered slightly long for him, while Make My Day was searching for her best form. The four of them delighted the packed stands with an outstanding finish, as less than a length separated the four of them at the wire.

Six Gun Smith showed early speed and led at a steady pace from Lad King and Make My Day, as the runners settled into their rhythm near the six furlong marker. Top Secret and Absolut Grey travelled in mid-division as the tightly packed field took the final bend. With the leader getting tired at this stage, Lad King moved ahead of the others. Despite a few cracks from Noornabi's whip, the favourite did not quicken as expected. He enjoyed only a marginal advantage over Make My Day. With Top Secret moving menacingly on the wide outside and Absolute Grey looming large towards the inside rails, the stage was set for a tight finish. With whips flying, both Noornabi on Lad King and Vaideeshwaran on Top Secret moved along with their horses, and the apprentice's was abreast at the wire. It was difficult to separate them with a naked eye. The digital technology confirmed that Lad King had beaten Top Secret by a "nose". Absolut Grey and Make My Day ended within whispering distance of the first two finishers. There were a couple of inferences that one could draw from this result. First and foremost, Top Secret's performance was quite eye-catching. Now that he has re-discovered his old form, the four year old looks good to win amongst horses in his own age group. Absolut Grey was ridden differently by Trevor today. He settled comfortably for a change and showed that he has matured gradually. Attaolahi can pick up a race with him before the end of this season.

The other noteworthy performance on Friday came from Sreekanth. After a number of successes on the Pune track in recent weeks, the young man carried his good form to Mysore. He partnered Lokanath's Mr Ambassador and the Ganapathy trained Quick Enough to smart victories. A win for Mr Ambassador was always on the cards. He had come down a lot in his ratings and was running against older horses over a trip that was ideally suited to him. Sreekanth rode him in copybook fashion in this race. Allowing Smart Exotic and Fire Vault to show the way, he moved steadily on the wide outside. After joining the duo at the bend, he asked his mount to quicken. Mr Ambassador took time to straighten his head, but once that happened, the race was over. He moved strongly in the final furlong and skipped clear of Kripa and Fire Vault.

Sreekanth had to work much harder on Quick Enough. He was the second favourite behind a solidly supported Courage In Red. Since the favourite was receiving five kilos from Quick Enough, it was felt that he would to too strong for the Ganapathy trainee. Attaollahi had given him sufficient work on the training track. Courage in Red took a good jump and settled comfortably alongside early leader Mountain Splendour, as the runners tackled the first half of ther journey. Quick Enough travelled comfortably in third, while the others were under pressure to keep pace with the front-runners. With Mountain Splendour calling it a day near the bend, it became a match-race thereafter. Courage In Red enjoyed a marginal advantage over Quick Enough near the distance post. It was beginning to disappear with each successive stride, as Quick Enough loomed alongside. A couple of cracks with the whip was all that was required to help Quick Enough get the better of Courage In Red. The favourite ran out of gas near the winning post.

The Sri VB Ramachandran Memorial Cup was confined to Mysore based horses. Eight of them were contesting over a sprint. Recently demoted Wynn carried the public purse in this race. He had come down more than a class over the last six months. The action in the betting rings confirmed that the six year old was "buzzing" today. Tracking Darling Dynamite and Bahman till the bend, Wynn came through a narrow passage between the two of them and surged clear in the straight. Responding to apprentice Pradeep's whipping, the horse moved outwards under pressure, and was distinctly lucky to stay clear of the others. Stablemate Snow Peaks moved half-heartedly in the final stages to take the second spot ahead of Mr Magic and Darling Dynamite. Freoz Khan can win a race for Mysore based horses with Snow Peaks this season.

A couple of three year olds managed to win the two divisions of a scurry for horses in Class IV. Satish Narredu's Athletic Star had run some poor races during summer. After campaigning him over various distances, the trainer chose to run him over the shortest possible trip on Friday. He further enhanced his chances by claiming an allowance on Athletic Star. Apprentice Chethana made a mess of his jump at the gates and got into traffic problems. He was involved in a mishap that led to Ravi falling off Aerial Acrobat within the first hundred metres of this race. However, he extricated himself from that mess and moved towards the leaders. Athletic Star's superiority can be gauged from the fact that he made up the leeway in no time, and surged clear of his opponents. The efforts took a toll on his stamina, and the dark bay started stopping near the winning post. Spark of Beauty moved menacingly in the straight, but was half a length shy at the finish. The winner should repeat on promotion.

Pratap Kamath's Miyarsprincess became the first Mysore based three years old to win in open company. Dominic's Saphira and the Ganapathy trained Wandering Ways were expected to dominate the lower division of this race. While Wandering Ways lost her way after an average jump from the gates, Saphira made heavy weather of hitting the front. Blues And Royals and Miyarsprincess set a hot pace into the straight. Miyarsprincess got stronger and stronger in the final furlong, and finally won by a widening margin from Zamindar and Saphira. The winner is a nice type that won today's race with an inexperienced jockey on board. With someone better than Janardhan Paswan in the saddle, Miyarsprincess could win again.

The last race of the day saw Appu coasting to a comfortable victory astride Bobby's Prowl King. Running against horses in the lowest class, Prowl King was a relative outsider. He was one of the two runners that had won a race during Mysore Summer. His subsequent fourth had shown that he had not lost, either form or condition. Despite looking good in the paddock, he failed to inspire confidence amongst the punters. With money flowing in the direction of Ariana, this Feroz Khan trainee started as a clear favourite. Appu took a good position at the start and allowed Prowl King to run his own race. The "blinkered" horse grabbed his bit and charged away from the others. Ariana could do no better than finish a very tame second.