Satish Narredu's Dancing Touch floored the punters while annexing The HH Sri Chamaraja Wadiyar Memorial Cup at the Mysore races on Thursday. The seven year old displayed a lot of tenacity while holding onto an early advantage that he had established in the straight. The sprint handicap for horses rated 80 and above had attracted ten runners. The speedy pair of Cape Ferrat and Win Again were assigned back-breaking weights, and this somehow lessened their chances. Shivalik Prince was an obvious choice of the punters. He had won twice over a sprint and climbed to this class. He was a trifle unlucky to get beaten first by Pure Elation and subsequently by Indian Bolt during the latter stages of the summer season. A change of ownership resulted in Shivalik Prince joining the Ganapathy stable. His new trainer tested him in a mock race on the Mysore track before accepting him in today's feature. Since the distance was ideally suited to his style of running, Shivalik Prince was backed confidently to start as an even-money choice of his supporters. In the absence of a clear second favourite, the other nine were offered at 8's and over in the betting rings.

Cape Ferrat and Win Again utilized their inner draw's and early speed to go ahead in the initial stages of this race. Suraj moved Dancing Touch from an extreme draw to join the leaders, while Sreekanth and Shivalik Prince were seen looking for space between the three of them. The order remained more or less same as they progressed towards the home turn. The race came to a boil at this stage, and a couple of things that happened, changed the scenario. Cape Ferrat and Win Again got tired along the rails and were the first to call it a day. Shivalik Prince came under immense pressure, shortened his strides and retired from the fray. This allowed Dancing Touch to skip clear of the pack. Under some relentless whipping from his jockey, he marched towards the finishing line. With less than a furlong to travel, Demanding Format was noticed moving fast on the wide outside. He made up a lot of ground and joined the leader. However, it was Dancing Touch who put up a determined show and clung onto his slender advantage. Win Again and Shivalik Prince plodded along to occupy the minor placings.

The Madras Race Club Cup, a terms event over seven furlongs, saw a dozen maidens competing for this trophy. With the victory of Active Grey, Suraj and Satish Narredu managed to score a quick double. She started as the third favourite behind Samara Sun and Supreme in this race. The highly regarded Samara Sun was running after a longish gap of three months. However, his track trials in recent weeks suggested that he was in good condition. The ever consistent Supreme was expected to perform on known lines. The three of them took off in single file and the order remained the same till the race ended. Active Grey set a strong pace ahead of Samara Sun and Supreme. They raced in close order, and since none of them had been put under pressure, it was difficult to predict who was travelling better than the other. However, the action at the bend gave a clear indication of the final result. Samara Sun floundered under pressure and veered off his path. Supreme shortened her strides and was a spent force in the straight. This permitted Active Grey to run away and post an extremely easy victory. Samara Sun may improve on this run and succeed in picking up a similar event before the end of this season.

Ganapthy trained Quick Enough treated his class II rivals with utter disdain in a seven furlong race on Thursday. He defied a stiff penalty that he had received for a hard fought victory over Courage In Red  a fortnight ago.  With Aztec Gold and Effectual attracting almost as much support as Quick Enough, this race had the makings of a thriller. However, nothing of the sort happened. Quick Enough was the only one amongst the fancied lot that raced prominently. He skipped clear in the straight and was more than five lengths ahead at the wire. In a dash for the minor placings, a disinterested One Time Magic got the better of front-running Lads Gladiator. Aztec Gold looked distinctly uncomfortable under his heavy impost, and this is one horse that needs to come down a lot before succeeding.

Trainer Rakesh was another professional who achieved a double on an afternoon of "upsets". A pair of long priced contenders scored from his stable. Three year old Castle King had run five times in his career. After winning four in a row, he had ended second in his recent start. Since he was opposing some useful horses that had travelled from Bangalore, this small made gelding was neglected from a betting perspective. Dhariwal trained Anonymous and Neil Darashah's Top Secret enjoyed the confidence of their respective camps. With four kilos off his back, Castle King enjoyed his solitude. He led from the word "go" and raced as he liked. Top Secret and Anonymous tried their best to topple Castle King near the winning post, but were unable to do so. Apprentice Ajeet Kumar put his head down and offered good assistance to the winner.

Running in the last race of the day, Rakesh's Money Bay was another one that carried a featherweight on his back. The four year old was competing against some good youngsters like Saltoftheearth, April Gold, Velvetine and Sensational Mover. Since none of them had really tackled a mile before today, this race had an open look. Satish Narredu's April Gold received late support to emerge as a race time favourite.  However, that support was noticeably misplaced as April Gold struggled throughout this race. He put up a doleful performance while ending a tame fourth. Sensational Mover raced in front and all but pulled-off a terrific gamble. Sreekanth was shocked to see Money Bay joining him in the last fifty metres of this race. In the hands of Vaideeshwaran, this Rakesh trainee gained ground with every stride and went on to score easier than the official verdict. Velvetine was another one that rallied late to take the third place.

Vaideeshwaran had already picked up an earlier race with Neil Darashah's Dancing Emeralds. Prithviraj's Seven Heaven was backed as though defeat was out of the equation, and was sent to the gates as an odds-on choice of the racegoers. This normally speedy horse struggled for early pace in this race. While Dancing Emeralds established a firm grip with his free striding tactics, Seven Heaven toiled in the rear. He made a late bid on the wide outside and just about managed to finish second. Dancing Emeralds was hailed as a winner much before the winning post. This was the second time in a row that Seven Heaven took down a lot of money.

A rare 100/1 outsider in the form of Your My Life scampered home to a facile victory in the lower division of the above race. She had last won a race a couple of years ago, and had very little recent  form to recommend her credentials. Britto's Right On Time received one-sided support in the betting rings to start as an even-money favourite in this race. She dashed the hopes of her followers with a pathetic jump from the starting gates. After losing a distance at the start, she improved gradually and did well to take the third place on the result boards. Nausad Alam took Your My Life to the front and never looked back. The five year old lengthened her strides to win by a widening margin from a heavily whipped Flirting King.

The only other race in the days card was won by Pratap Kamath's Ahira.  In a sprint reserved for Mysore based horses, Ahira was a relative outsider. Ranjeet trained The Spartan headed the betting charts, but the manner in which he tackled the first half of the trip, made it clear that he wasn't going to win today. Amiable Lady, Sterling Cruise and Ahira fought for an early advantage and were almost alongside as they entered the straight. With Wynn appearing on the wide outside and scampering clear of the front-runners, it seemed as though the race was over. But that was not to be. Wynn started to roll out towards the sand track and the apprentice jockey had a tough time controlling his movements. This permitted Ahira to come with a second run and nail him close to the winning post. Janardhan Paswan rode one of the better races of his career astride this winner.