An ordinary looking card of eight events was held at The Bangalore Turf Club on Tuesday. Because of torrential rains last weekend in the city, this same card originally scheduled for Saturday was postponed by a few days. In the absence of a race for horses in higher classes, a maiden’s event was accorded the pride of place as the day’s feature. The Karnataka Sub-Area Trophy, a scurry for maiden three year olds, attracted a dozen acceptors. On the basis of his good second behind My Lakshmi a month ago, Arjun Mangalorkar’s Mantra was a strong favourite to bag this prize. Another horse that merited attention was Blackbird. In his last start in winter, he had ended a good third to Nabisco. With the latter winning another two races this summer, Blackbird was expected to do well under the guidance of Suraj Narredu. A speedy Aryan Warrior received a fair bit of support to join the above mentioned horses on the betting boards. On paddock looks, it was quite evident that Mantra was the horse to beat in this race.

Aryan Warrior utilized his early speed and opened-up a four length lead over Mantra and Triumph, as the runners tackled the first half of their journey.  The action in front remained exactly the same as the runners entered the straight. Imran Chisty tried his best to keep Aryan Warrior going, but the nice looking colt was extremely tired. He stopped in his tracks and faded out of contention. This allowed Mantra to assume command of the proceedings. Under some relentless pressure from PS Chouhan, Mantra lengthened his strides and sailed ahead of the rest. Triumph, who was his closest challenger at that stage, failed to quicken any further and seemed to have settled for the runner-up berth. It was at this juncture that we saw a horse moving from the back. Selvaraj ridden Ace Lexington covered acres of ground to finish an impressive second. Without much help from the saddle, this first-timer literally dragged his rider into contention. Those who had backed the favourite were glad that Ace Lexington hadn’t been roused earlier. Ace Lexington is a good horse that will make his presence felt in the next few months. For the records, Triumph ended a respectable third in the day’s feature.

Last outing winner Rumour Has It did well to carry her heavy burden to another victory and enabled PS Chouhan to complete a popular double. The champion jockey shared the day’s honours with apprentice Anjar Alam, who was the only other professional to match this performance. Rashid Byramji’s Whimsical, who had run a game third in her only run this season, was expected to improve on that performance and was duly installed as the favourite. It was felt that Rumour Has It would not be able to concede seven kilos to Whimsical. Appy’s Pride was another runner that was fancied by his connections, but his paddock looks did not inspire much confidence. Appy’s Pride got straight down to business and set a fair pace along with Perfect Speed till the bend. PS Chouhan and Rumour Has It were right behind the leading pair as the twelve runners turned for home. Appy’s Pride’s two length advantage disappeared near the distance post, when he was easily passed by Rumour Has It. After hitting the front, the filly tended to feel the pressure. Chouhan pulled out his stick and ensured that she would not succumb to a renewed bid from Appy’s Pride along the inside rails. The pair finished well clear of a tired Artic Breeze and Whimsical. The last named ran a pathetic race to finish more than six lengths behind the winner. It is possible that she disliked the unfavourable underfoot conditions.

Ganapathy trained Golden Princess started as the shortest priced favourite on Tuesday. The filly had done most of her running in Mumbai during the winter months, and on one occasion, had ended close behind Alaindair over 1400 metres. She was running for the first time in open class and was given a rating of 25 by the local handicapper. With most of the opponents conceding weight to her, it was difficult to visualize Golden Princess getting beaten in this race. Trevor pushed her to the front and the pair seized an early advantage over Nocturnal Hunter and Sweet Angel. The order remained more or less the same till the final post. The half money favourite cruised ahead in the straight and managed to keep a heavily whipped Nocturnal Hunter at bay. First-timer Jerusalem and Beautiful Life appeared late on the scene to take the minor placings on the result boards. The winner is a nice type that can be earmarked for another win in the near future.

The Rajah SRK Ranga Row Memorial Cup, an age group sprint for horses in class III, was split into two divisions.  A strong bid from the tail end of the pack enabled Amit Caddy’s Next Move to bag the upper version of this race. Last outing winner Divine Deliverance headed the betting charts. The allowance claimed by apprentice Prabhakaran brought him into strong contention, as he was known to be a free striding horse that would enjoy a lighter burden in the saddle. With the withdrawal of second-in-demand Impressive Bolt, the Neil Darashah trainee looked set to run away from his ten rivals. The first half of the race unfurled on expected lines. Divine Deliverance tore away to the front and opened-up a nice looking lead into the straight. While Pack Ur Bags and Balas Glory stayed in contention, the others were spread right across the track. Many of them were finding it tough to tackle the soft underfoot conditions and fading out of contention. The one that made up some ground from the rear was Amit Caddy’s Next Move. Appearing on the very wide outside, he began to pick up a tired bunch of runners and moved strongly towards the leader. With less than fifty metres still to travel, he overtook Divine Deliverance and won with a measure of comfort. Apprentice Ramu rode a competent race astride this winner. Sebright rallied along the inner rails and came from the last position to all but beat Balas Glory for the third position. She will be too good to miss in her next start.

The lower division of this event was claimed in effortless fashion by Irfan Ghatala’s Smithsonite. The four year old had re-appeared on a race track after a very long break and won handsomely a fortnight ago. The handicapper had pounced on him and given him a stiff penalty. The trainer continued to repose faith in apprentice Anjar Alam and allowed him to ride Smithsonite once again. Even though the body weights of the runners confirmed that Smithsonite had lost only six kilos as compared to his first run this season, it was apparent that he looked a lot fitter. With the punters going “nap” on this runner, the bookmakers were careful while installing him as an on-money favourite. Allowing Scenic Blast to lead him into the straight, Smithsonite moved steadily towards the centre of the track. In a matter of seconds, he overtook Scenic Blast and strode comfortably past the winning post. The other ten runners were literally outpaced from the word ”go”. They fought their own little battle at the back for the minor slots on the result boards. Abbas Dreams got up on the last stride to beat Superb Style into fourth place. The winner has struck fine form and is sure to bring further laurels for his sporting owners.

The young apprentice shared the day’s honours with his senior colleague PS Chouhan. This was Anjar Alam’s second win, as he had already scored in an earlier event with Warren Singh’s Thejaguar. The sprint for horses in the lowest category had attracted a dozen acceptors. Affrikah, Fire Storm and Southern Master were the fancied runners in this race. The first named had done well last winter by finishing a close third in a higher group, and was now running on demotion. With Arjun Mangalorkar easing his burden by declaring apprentice Mudassar to partner him, the four year old was the first choice of the punters. Affrikah chased Southern Master till the final bend and was always ahead of Thejaguar and Impressiveattitude. With Southern Master running out of steam and Affrikah rolling out under pressure, the stage was set for Thejaguar. Under some relentless pressure from Alam, he spurted in the final furlong and went on to score easily from Affrikah, Impressiveattitude and Southern Master. Since this was Affrikah’s first start since mid February, he can be expected to improve after today’s experience.

The most interesting finish of the afternoon was witnessed in The Smt Bhagirathi Memorial Cup , which happened to be a seven furlong handicap for horses rated 40-65. A number of highly regarded three year olds were running for the first time in open class after winning amongst maidens. Majestic Reward, Roses In Bloom, Stimulate, To The Manor Born and Bright Lady were handicapped at the lower end of the scale and carried the hopes of their respective connections. Soon after the fifteen runners took off from the gates, it was clear that each jockey was looking for a suitable path on a tricky and soft surface. Whistlejacket and Little Lion did the front running before packing-up in the straight. While Majestic Reward, who was racing right behind them, made a quick move to grab the lead, the others took their time to quicken. Roses In Bloom came with a fast run on the wide outside and went in chase. At just about the same juncture, To The Manor Born started to improve through the middle. Zervan pulled out all stops on Majestic Reward and the pair enjoyed a healthy advantage as they moved towards the winning post. But it was the perseverance of Neeraj Rawal astride Nosher Cama’s To The Manor Born that paid rich dividends. The leggy filly improved with each stride and got up in the nick of time to beat Majestic Reward on the post. Roses In Bloom got tired at the end to finish a tame third. All three outstation fillies are sure to do well after they return to their own centres. The one that disappointed in this race was Stimulate. Despite her good track work, bottom handicap and fine looks in the paddock, she ran poorly to end a faraway fourth.