Bipin V Salvi trained Absolute Pleasure (Gaswar-Killarney) got off to a fashionable debut, winning the Victory Zone Cup, which featured the day’s races at Mysore. Jockey Fransisco Franco Da Silva rode out Absolute Pleasure confidently, to win in a smart timing over the five and a half furlongs dash. Taking off well at start, Absolute Pleasure was settled in third, close behind the leaders. Into the final run on the home stretch, Azure Fire was the first one to show up but started to shift out. Yakeen took the widening gap along the rails and was beginning to shape well. Da Silva in the meanwhile waited confidently and when he alerted his mount Absolute Pleasure, the filly got into a fine rhythm and scuttled away to score an impressive win. Yakeen just about held on to be the runner-up from Azure Fire. Sofast was withdrawn after the youngster reared up and fell down on its way to the gates.

Salvi and Da Silva were the only professionals to have scored a double, having teamed up to win the opener with Flip Your Destiny (Serious Spender-Insatiable). The last time the 7 year old gelding saw the winning post was over two years ago and had come down considerably in handicap since then. Flip Your Destiny jumped out smartly from an outward draw and improved steadily to be with the front bunch. Da Silva pushed his mount to go ahead and take charge on entering the home stretch and stayed well to win the race by over a length. Wimbeldon Star was up with a challenge inside the last 300 metres but failed to collar the winner and ended up second.

S.Rakesh trained Castle King (Hymn-Castle Beauty) who had Treasure Mountain as a hurdle in its last outing, found the eight rivals in the Bijapur Plate an easy picking. Stable companion Lake Emerald set out in front, followed closely by Chestnut Charmer and Castle King settled easily in third. Inside the last 400 metres, Castle King slipped in along the inner ground and stretched out easily to win with more on hand. Seriously Perfect was under the stick in second all through the final straight but lost the runner-up berth to a fast finishing Virat in the closing stages.

C.D.Monnappa trained Always On Top (Inner City-Maria Sharapova), who had gone winless despite being a consistent performer during the recently concluded Mysore regular season, came out to justify the favouritism in the Lalbagh Plate. Always on Top, the youngest among the nine horses in the race, tracked the leader River Gem, all the way from the start into the home run and stretched out easily to in by a big margin. River Gem finished second while Formidable was third another 2 ¼ lengths behind.

Trainer Vishal Yadav’s unfancied Sequana (Tirol-Progressing) upset the apple cart of the well backed stable mate Chinab, in the Chitradurga Plate. The win of Sequana turned out to be the biggest upset of the day, paying a whopping Rs.1103 for a tanner for win. The 5 year old with apprentice Ajeet Kumar on the saddle came into the final straight with a slender lead over the others. Chinab started to put pressure on the outside and despite the desperate attempt by the rider, failed to collar its stable companion, who went past the winning post a length clear. Good Gift was finishing on to take the third place, ahead of Gris Rapide.

Ranjeet Shinde’s Man United (Duja-Amidst), who had come down to the lowest class after almost 20 runs after its win over a year ago, won the Shillong Plate in a close finish. Man United got to the inner rails quickly from 11 draw to be third behind Arc Angel and Montag. The two horses in front started to dispute the lead inside the last 400 metres and apprentice Irvan Singh pulled out Man United for a clear run. The 7 year old picked up speed readily when shown the daylight and got the better of Arc Angel in the shadow of the winning post.

G.T.Surender trained Noughtsandcrosses (European-Act of Trust), who had lost out to Bejewelled Beauty, a week ago, made amends to lift the Nagarjunasagar Plate, the concluding race of the day. The top weighted Noughtsandcrosses came in to the straight in about fourth position and with a sustained run surged ahead. Truthandfaith joined the fight and the two fought out with Noughtsandcrosses prevailing by a neck at the finish.