The Gr 1 Poonawalla Mysore Derby thriller was scripted by Silva Storai. Just when Full Speed appeared to have been boxed between the front-running Berlioz and Queen of Fashion, Silva gathered courage to push her way through the gap in the centre and elicited the desired response from the son of Buren of Proof to neck out the rank outsider. Queen of Fashion was a tame third while Adesina who went into the race with the specter of doubt haunting her participation due to a hoof puncture was a dismal fourth. That taking chances with such valuable horses in as big a race as this is fraught with risks for everyone concerned could not have been better highlighted by the pathetic performance of the talented filly. She has been sacrificed for nothing.

The Vijaydashami has indeed brought a big victory for the trainer-jockey combination of Irfan Ghatala and Silva Storai who thus recorded their second Derby win in as many years. The Derby has remained an elusive dream for more accomplished teams and as such, the quick Derby double deserves high praise. Cynicism often gives way for hope and the success of the duo and that of Full Speed Owners Shailesh Shivaswamy, Prasad Reddy, K Ramesh and D P Dinesh is surely the stuff dreams are made of. Shailesh and Prasad were also part owners of Brown Sugar who won last year’s Deccan Derby and the latter excitedly said that ``he was on top of the World.’’ One can fully understand his sentiments.

Coming back to the race, Adesina who started as an ante post favourite soon gave way for Queen of Fashion who ended up as the public fancy. Full Speed who had blotted his record with a dismal show in the Guineas received some inspired support while Berlioz was totally neglected in the betting ring. Also contributing to the public perception was the owners’ reluctance to run him over a trip that they reckoned was beyond the compass of the got-abroad son of Sri Pekan and the belief of jockey Malesh Narredu who chose to ride as dismal a performer as Allectus in preference to Berlioz. That Narredu can only be a good jockey and little else was borne out by the performance of Allectus who first of all did not merit a place in the line up. Logically speaking, in the absence of Fantabulous King and Star Admiral who had finished ahead of Full Speed in the Bangalore Derby, the last named should have been the obvious favourite to win as the rest had not run in such elite company. Only the poor preparatory run of Full Speed was what planted a doubt in the minds of the race goers.

Ministrel Heights hit the front as the starter dispatched the field for the 2000 metres trip, with Berlioz settled in second position ahead of Full Speed, Queen of Fashion and the rest, with Adesina racing in the rear group. Approaching the final bend, Srinath made his move on Berlioz and pushed the Padmanabhan trainee to the front. Berlioz kicked clear even as Full Speed moved up to take position along with Queen of Fashion. Berlioz fought on resolutely in the strong handling of Srinath even as Queen of Fashion flattered to receive making way for Full Speed to join issue. The duo fought an exciting battle in the final moments of the race, with Full Speed managing to nose out Berlioz to win in a record timing of 2 minutes 5.06 seconds in firm going. It was indeed a quantum leap on the performance scale for Berlioz whom many had dismissed as lacking in classic standards.

There was a poignant moment to the occasion, with top jockey Pesi Shroff calling it a day. The 39-year old champion had a commendable tally of 30 Derby successes to his credit and had an incredible tally of over 1750 winners from 5000-odd rides. The Mysore Race Club presented a bouquet to the jockey who was cheered by the crowd for being such an accomplisher. While Pesi is to take up his new assignment as a trainer, veteran Aris David, the first Indian trainer to saddle over 100 classic winners chose to retire. A champion trainer till the late 80s, David had not been in the wilderness after he lost the patronage of India’s leading horse owner Dr M A M Ramaswamy.

Star Falcon who had let down his supporters twice during the season, finally obliged, managing to stave off the challenge of Taipan in a close finish in the 1400 metres Bangalore Turf Club Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 and above, the supporting event of the day. Solar Rocket was backed to the exclusion of his rivals but he did not find his foot and was a poor fourth. Blue Hare flashed home with a flourish to be an eye-catching third.

Do we need Stipes at all if the performance of these gentlemen in the just concluded Mysore Season was any way to judge their ``ability’’!!! Jockey Mark Gallagher insulted everybody’s intelligence by the callous manner in which rode favourite Arabie in the concluding race of the season. Such incidents have been a dime-a-dozen. Punters at least can now heave a sigh of relief that an inglorious season, marked by scant regard to morality, ethics and the authority, has finally come to an end.