For the second week in a row, heavy thundershowers greeted racegoers as they trooped into the Mysore Race Club. The authorities decided to go ahead with the day's programme in soft underfoot conditions. Further rain after a couple of races led to a mild protest from the jockeys. They were reluctant to fulfill their engagements and wanted the rest of the card to be cancelled. However, their protests were disallowed and the eight event card was conducted as planned. A number of races were won by horses that were lucky to find good ground on the wide outside, and a couple of rank outsiders scored during the afternoon. The Sanctity Trophy, a nine furlong handicap for horses in class II, was slated as the day's feature. Although there were eight acceptors, the race appeared to be a strong contest between Darius Byramji's Golden Viper and Arjun Mangalorkar's Dancerella. The two of them had finished third and fourth in a similar event at Bangalore, and were expected to dominate the proceedings. At the weights, Dancerella was marginally inferior to Golden Viper. Secondly, Golden Viper had suffered from a tardy start in their previous clash, and it was felt that should he take a normal start, he would win today. He was accordingly backed with confidence and sent as a 5/4 favourite to the starting gates.

Dancerella did her normal front-running and skipped clear of Six Gun Smith and Cafe Del Monte. With Six Gun Smith showing undue haste and charging ahead thereafter, John was able to settle Dancerella in second spot. Cafe Del Monte and Native Talent followed at regular intervals, while Golden Viper graced the rear. His fans were a little worried as Golden Viper was almost a distance behind the leading pair till they began skirting the final bend. It was at this stage that DK Ashish made his move astride the favourite. Golden Viper began picking up a bunch of tired horses and progressed comfortably towards Dancerella and Cafe Del Monte. To his good luck, Dancerella moved out and pushed him further towards the best ground in the straight. Golden Viper responded nicely to his jockey's urgings, lengthened his strides and galloped away from his opponents. Cafe Del Monte showed great resolve on the inner rails to take the second spot ahead of a hard ridden Dancerella. This Mysore based horse should retire as an easy winner the day he runs against those based at his home centre.

The MK Srinivas Crystal Trophy was the added attraction in the day's card. Neil Darashah's pair of Mr Carpe and Regal Hostess were odds-on choices of the punters in the two divisions of this race. Three year old Mr Carpe had beaten a strong field earlier this month at Bangalore, and was lucky to be retained in class IV by the handicapper. PS Chouhan rode a tactically good race on this horse. Being drawn on the inside, he nurtured his horse towards the outer half of the track, and moved in mid-group till the bend. He produced Mr. Carpe on the wide outside and asked him to "go".  The dark bay gelding thrived in soft going, overtook Ground Marshal and cantered away for an easy victory. In this sort of form, he is capable of repeating. Ground Marshal and Sanatana saved place money for their respective connections.

In the lower division, Suraj Narredu and Regal Hostess travelled along the rails. Since the filly was drawn on the extreme inside, there was no way that she could move outwards. Regal Hostess made a start to finish bid in this race. She was followed most of the time by Absence. The leader came under pressure in the final furlong, and after a short duel near the distance post, surrendered the advantage to Absence. Regal Hostess had obviously succumbed to the poor conditions that prevailed towards the inner portion of the track. No one noticed the moves of Abby's Baby at the back. She came with raking strides in the final stages and caused the biggest upset of the afternoon. The four year old was not "fancied” by the Amit Caddy stable. Jockey S Babu rode a winner after a very long time. Absence and Regal Hostess finished side by side while filling the rest of the frame.

There were a number of horses that posted runaway victories on Thursday, but the one that really impressed was Ganapathy's Favourite Warrior. A win and two second places were his achievements in his last three starts at Bangalore. Based on these numbers, Favourite Warrior was installed as a favourite by the bookmakers. Since there was strong support closer to race time for Amit Caddy's Rusty, the odds against the favourite rose rapidly. Surprise succeeding, Rusty and Javanica raced prominently in front and showed the way to a tightly packed group of rivals. Suraj pushed Rusty into a comfortable lead and managed to shake off his closest pursuers in the straight. It was at this juncture that Sreekanth moved astride Favourite Warrior and brought him into contention. It ceased to be a race thereafter. Showing sparkling acceleration, the Ganapathy trainee strode away majestically to record a facile victory. The final burst of acceleration was noteworthy.

The day began with a thumping victory for Sharavanan's Virat. It was an 1100 metres handicap for three year olds in Class IV. Forest Spirit, The Muse and Red Admiral carried the hopes of the Bangalore brigade, while Virat led the local challenge. Because of a number of placed efforts in maiden company, Forest Spirit was seen conceding weight to her rivals. On the basis of her huge handicap advantage, The Muse received strong support to emerge as the ultimate favourite in this race, but the filly never ran because she was withdrawn on veterinary grounds. The runners took off at a fast pace with Virat holding an early advantage over Forest Spirit, Stardom Girl and Red Admiral. A mere look at the runners was enough to realize that the leader was travelling much better than the others. With Shiva Kumar urging him further, Virat moved ahead in the straight and cantered away to a ten length victory over Forest Spirit. Red Admiral found late foot to overtake Stardom Girl near the finishing line. Virat is a speedy type that is sure to do well at Mysore.

A class V handicap over seven furlongs was split into two divisions. After the withdrawal of top weighted Serengeti, this race had an open look. For the information of our readers, it is confirmed that Serengeti wasn't withdrawn on veterinary grounds. Her inability to get into the "float" at Bangalore led to the filly's withdrawal from this race. The Babu Rao camp backed Brigade Supreme with confidence and sent him as a firm favourite to the starting gates. Peppr and Shades Of Scarlet were the other fancied runners. Peppr set a strong pace and went ahead of Shades Of Scarlet as they tackled the first half of their journey. Taking off comfortably from a wide draw, apprentice Rajesh Kumar decided to bide his time with Brigade Supreme, and allowed him to canter along comfortably till the bend. He pushed him in the straight and sent him ahead of the others. Within a couple of seconds, the favourite opened up a winning lead in the final furlong. In a fight for the minor placings, Tressa made up acres of ground from the rear to fly into second place ahead of Kalyan and I Fancy You. The winner appears to be capable of repeating on promotion. The second placed filly will be too good to miss in her next start over a slightly longer trip.

The lower division of this event went to seven year old Voodoo Moon. After a series of unplaced efforts, this Md Khan trainee had come down a class. His poor form in recent times ensured that the punters ignored him from a betting perspective. Md Shoaib took him to the front in the early stages of this race and managed to hold onto his slender advantage till the very end. Sound Of Power tried to keep pace with him till the bend, but that was all he could manage. It was left to Jeyem's Pride to launch the final assault. The three year old filly moved fast in the final furlong, but was unable to collar the leader. Only a nostril separated the two of them at the wire. With a pathetic performance, small-made Rosie's Dream took down a lot of public money in this race.