The Chief Minister’s Cup featured an ordinary looking card of eight events on Thursday at Mysore. The nine furlong handicap for horses in the highest class, attracted a modest set of seven acceptors. Apart from Dhariwal’s three year old Maths Baby, the other six were at least a couple of years older than him. The youngster came into this race with some decent performances under his belt. A good second to Equine Lover during the closing stages of The Bangalore Summer Season was very suggestive. While conceding four and a half kilos to the champion filly, he had managed to finish three and a half lengths behind her. Dhariwal took him next to Hyderabad to have a tilt at the Colts Championship. He was a trifle unlucky in that race. Despite losing a fair bit of ground by travelling wide for most of the way, he had still managed to finish within a length of Machiavellianism and Borsalino. Maths Baby was attractively placed at the bottom of the scales today. Because of these factors, as also his sparkling track-work, Maths Baby started as a short priced favourite. You could literally write your own card on the other six.

Top weighted Camorra darted to the front and set a fair pace ahead of Magnitude Star and Maths Baby. The horses travelled in single file through the back-stretch and the order remained unchanged till the bend. The four kilos claimed by apprentice M Kumar on Camorra helped his cause and he continued to dominate the action as the runners straightened for home. PS Chouhan got busy and the leading jockey was seen urging Maths Baby at this stage. For a very brief while it seemed as though the leader would hold onto his advantage, but that was not to be. Maths Baby devoured ground in the final furlong and sealed a well deserved victory. Rising Rainbow and Elite Land made a late bid to take the minor slots on the result boards. An announcement confirmed that the winner had set a new course record of 1 minute and 48.83 seconds for this 1800 metre trip at Mysore. After such a nice effort today, Maths Baby is sure to make his presence felt in the Mysore Derby. 

After serving out a month long suspension, jockey Valdir De Souza announced his return to the saddle by scoring a very popular double. The Amit Caddy stable had been having a very quiet season, and it was obvious that they were waiting for their retained jockey to come back from a forced holiday. After an unplaced effort a few weeks ago, Royal Prodigy had been relegated to the lowest category. Making full use of this opportunity, Amit placed him in an easy bunch and the connections supported him confidently in the betting rings. Valdir allowed the favourite to track Symbol Of Success and Sweet Angel for a while, before taking control of the action. He pushed Royal Prodigy to the front and sailed away for a comfortable victory. Another victory amongst horses in his own age group for this winner, looks like a distinct possibility. There was none amongst the beaten brigade  that caught one’s attention.

 The RRR Gold Cup, a class II handicap to be run over seven furlongs, looked extremely competitive. One Time Magic had made a fine impression in its last start. The jockey had been fined for his feeble efforts on that occasion. However, today’s field was much tougher. Two time winner Virat was looking to complete a hat-trick, and there were many who felt that he was capable of doing so. Nessie and Absolut Grey had been running some good races all summer, and they were a part of this field. Fortune Queen, Virat and Flying Tricolour set a strong pace and strode away from Nessie and One Time Magic. With the leaders getting exhausted near the bend, it was left to Nessie to take control of the proceedings. Even though Srinath managed to steer her to the front, Nessie’s dominance was short-lived. One Time Magic came with fluent strides and moved ahead of her. Absolut Grey appeared late to finish third ahead of Fortune Queen and the others. One Time Magic will be testing his skills against class I opponents hereafter. The handicapper has caught up with Virat, and this three year old will have to wait a while before picking up another race. 

Franco De Silva was the other jockey to score a brace on Thursday. Signifies and Zermatt needed his guidance to succeed in their respective events. Manohar’s Signifies was a relative outsider in a sprint for horses rated 20-45. With a lot of money flowing in the direction of Indian Pride, this runner started as a clear favourite in this race. While Will Still, Samajdaar and Indian Pride  raced prominently, Signifies was held in mid group for most of the way. A couple of incidents near the bend altered the scenario. Samajdaar wilted under pressure and hampered the running of Indian Pride. At almost the same juncture a nice and wide gap appeared in front of Signifies. De Silva pounced on this godsent opportunity and pushed his ward through this opening. Signifies was good enough to forge ahead and win from Will Still and Indian Pride. After losing a lot of ground at the start, Thejaguar improved steadily to end an impressive fifth. 

Franco had a much easier time astride Dhariwal’s Zermatt. Knowing that his mount was extremely comfortable over a metric mile, he took a good jump and went ahead of the others. Attractive Bay and Velvetine were his nearest challengers. For a brief while near the halfway marker, Velvetine managed to go ahead of Zermatt. Sitting completely unperturbed on Zermatt, De Silva retained his second spot till they entered the straight. A couple of cracks with the whalebone was all that was required thereafter. Zermatt bounded ahead and scored one of the easier victories of the day. Sensational Mover came with a long stretch run to deprive Velvetine of the runner-up berth. 

A nice gamble was landed by those in the know in a sprint reserved for Mysore based horses. Swept Away received strong support close to race time, and justified the same with a workmanlike performance. Apprentice Noornabi rode this Pratap Kamath trainee patiently and kept him away from trouble by travelling wide in the straight. Real Magic and Archer did the front-running till the bend before fading from the scene. Swept Away improved steadily on the wide outside and asserted a firm hold on this race. Sun Device came with a late bid thereafter, but it wasn’t good enough to go anywhere close to the winner .It may not be too long before Sun Divice succeeds in entering the winners enclosure. Ahira’s late charged helped her to save place money for her backers. 

Rank outsider Gift Of Love dropped the biggest bombshell of the afternoon while claiming the last race on Thursday. Running against the fancied pair of Sutton Prince and Sweet Timer, Gift Of Love was available at 100/1 at the totalizators. Apprentice N Kumar kept this runner in second place behind the speedy Sweet Timer till the top of the bend. Franco De Silva, who was searching for his third winner of the day, allowed Sutton Prince to amble along in third. The race took a serious turn in the final furlong. All three of them were put under pressure, and it was only a question of which amongst them would produce the desired acceleration. To the dismay of those who had backed the other two, it was Gift Of Love that did the needful. Getting up in the nick of time, Gift Of Love went ahead of Sweet Timer and scored comfortably. Sutton Prince could do no better than finish a tame third. He was apparently uncomfortable under his top weight, and this big made horse could be a different proposition at a lower mark in the higher class.