The Mysore Million, the first prestigious race for three year olds this season, was won quite comprehensively by the Ganapathy trained Southern Emperor on Thursday. The only maiden in a group of eight acceptors, he also happened to be the lowest rated horse amongst them. With the likes of Charlatan, Ace Bucephalus, Supreme Regime and Mickey Mouse in the fray, not many gave him a chance to win this race. From a number of angles, it was an “Eventful Million”. Charlatan, Supreme Regime and Mickey Mouse came into this race as final entrants. The connections of Mickey Mouse were quite distraught when their horse refused to get into a Mysore bound horse van. They took an unprecedented decision of “walking’ their horse from Bangalore to Mysore. It is learnt that after travelling close to 90 kilometres, Mickey Mouse got exhausted and climbed the ramp into the vehicle. Unfortunately, he fell on his back after reaching Mysore and had to be withdrawn from the race. On the other hand, the even-money favourite Charlatan dropped his rider in front of the main stand and ran rider less for the next few minutes. Once trainer Attaollahi caught up with him and decided to take his chances by running him, the punters were seen searching for cover. Those who had already backed him, watched helplessly. Some amongst them tried to hedge their bets on Ace Bucephalus and Supreme Regime. Either way, they were at the receiving end, as an un-fancied Southern Emperor showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals.

Franco DaSilva made full use of his light weight as well as an innermost draw, and took Southern Emperor to the front. A speedy Valerian moved into second, ahead of Supreme Regime, Charlatan and Ace Bucephalus. The runners tackled the first half-mile comfortably and were closely huddled at the top of the bend. It was hereabouts that all of them were put under pressure. With Southern Emperor moving off the inner rails, the ones behind him had two options. While Supreme Regime chose the shortest way home and hugged the inner rails, Charlatan and Ace Bucephalus tried to move towards the centre of the track. Since the leader continued to drift further, all three of them ducked inwards, but none of them could match the long and fluent strides of Southern Emperor. Despite losing ground due to his outward drift, Southern Emperor was still a length and a half clear of Charlatan at the finish. Ace Bucephalus and Supreme Regime ended tamely to take the minor placings on the result boards. The Mysore Million is normally viewed as a lead-up race to the ensuing Classics. However, today’s proceedings didn’t give much of a clue to what may transpire later in the season.

Ganapathy scored another point when Natural View cantered away with the final race of the afternoon. The three year old filly was second favourite behind another runner of her own age named Kolaveri Di. The two of them had ended next to each other in a maidens event at Bangalore, and based on that result, were closely matched today. However, Ganapathy’s decision to claim three kilos off Natural View’s back by entrusting her to apprentice Sahanawaz proved to be quite fruitful. The filly moved smoothly from a wide draw and was soon alongside early leader Gentle Don. Kolaveri Di was seen being niggled by PS Chouhan, as the runners moved into the straight. It was here that things became more clear. While Natural View lengthened her strides and skipped away from the rest, a heavily whipped Kolaveri Di found late foot to beat Gentle Don into third place.

The other trainer to score more than once was Dhariwal. With some shrewd placing, he cornered both divisions of The Datta Jeweller’s Trophy with Meghalaya and Firelight. Both these horses had touched the board in a higher category at Bangalore, and were running as top-weights in a seven furlong race for those rated 20-45. Being an age-group event, both these four year olds were the youngest participants in their respective events. Suraj Narredu rode Firelight with immense confidence. His job became much easier once a strongly backed Lady Mandy refused to come out of the starting gates. Suraj was content to sit well of the pace, as Thejaguar and Bella Pinky tried runaway tactics. Firelight travelled comfortably under him, and it was easy to decipher that it was only a matter of time before she would wrest the initiative. It all happened near the 300 metre marker. Firelight overtook Bella Pinky and strode away for an easy victory. With nothing really moving from the back, Bella Pinky was able to retain her second berth ahead of Well Known and Dance With Me.

Meghalaya’s victory was equally impressive. This time, it was PS Chouhan who had an armchair ride to victory. In the absence of a serious opponent, Meghalaya was a half-money choice of the punters. Once Chouhan saw that Our Love and Fantastic Strike were fighting with each other for an early advantage, he was quick to take the box-seat behind them. After those in front got tired with their efforts, Meghalaya made his move. Coming smoothly through an opening between Fantastic Strike and Our Love, he accelerated on expected lines and moved ahead of the pack. Chouhan rode him hands-n-heels thereafter to register an easy victory. While Fantastic Strike plodded along to take the next spot, Mysore-based Persian showed a lot of resolve to save place money for his backers. Today’s results once again confirmed that local horses have little chance against Bangalore-based runners. To make the Mysore Main Season more competitive, the handicapper at MRC had dropped the scale last year for local horses by a few points. This had somehow ensured that some of them were able to earn their corn bills during the season. I am sure that he must have had a very good reason for not doing the same this year.

The Sanctity Trophy, a nine furlong handicap for horses in class II, was the added attraction in the day’s card. Last outing winner Applejack was a strong favourite to win this trophy. His winning performance over a mile and a quarter suggested that he was capable of moving up the ladder. Arjun Mangalorkar entrusted him to PS Chouhan and the four year old was backed with confidence. Cool Approach and Sandstorm did the bulk of the running and brought the nine horse field into view. After losing many lengths at the gates, top-weighted Maths Baby was seen catching up with those in front of him. Most of them were close to each other, as they turned for home. A brilliant piece of acceleration shown by Radical Attraction enabled her to wrest the initiative in the final furlong of this race. Under some able assistance from Arshad Alam, the five year old established what looked like a winning lead at that stage. However, there was something moving very fast on the wide outside. PS Chouhan and Applejack devoured ground to all but catch the leader. In one of the closest finishes seen this season, Radical Attraction had just about managed to hold onto her slender advantage. Maths Baby did extremely well to finish an impressive third. But for a tardy start, the four year old would have easily won this race.

A similar finish was witnessed in a class IV sprint earlier in the afternoon. Darius Byramji’s strong favourite Point Taken just about managed to hold a belated challenge from Bandito. Imran Chisty took a good jump with Point Taken and settled her comfortably behind Golden Princess and Midnight Legacy till they reached the bend. Watching a bandaged Midnight Legacy wavering in front of him, Chisty decided to bring Point Taken on the very wide outside. Even though she seemed to be galloping on the wrong leg, Point Taken went a couple of lengths ahead of Golden Princess. She was given a tap at that stage and asked for an effort. Not finding anything extra, he tried his best to keep her going. In the midst of all this, Chisty even dropped his whip. At just about the same juncture, the claret silks of Bandito appeared on the scene. Weaving his way through a packed bunch, Srinath brought him with a flourish towards the inside rails. While Srinath used his whalebone with gay abandon, Chisty was seen riding hands-n-heels. The two of them were besides each other as they flashed past the winning post. The digital camera confirmed that Point Taken on the wide outside had won by a short head from Bandito.

The only other race in the day’s card was the day’s opener. First-timer Cinch proved to be a handful for her ten opponents. This well bred filly from Attaollahi’s yard had apparently suffered a setback in training, and was therefore making a belated start to her career. Not wanting to put undue pressure on her by racing against mature maidens, the filly was allowed to run at her own mark. Her track trials showed that she was an immensely talented specimen. She was accordingly backed down to half-money favouritism. Tackling a bunch of modest performers was an easy task for her. Ryan Marshall used her early speed to perfection and sent Cinch ahead of the others. Second favourite Himavari was lethargic at the gates and was seen trailing the pack, as the field entered the straight. Cinch was travelling quite comfortably, and there was never a doubt about her victory. As regards the other slots, Mark and Himavari made some progress in the final stages of this race to take the minor placings on the result boards. The winner has it in her to win on promotion.