The HH Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy, a terms event for top class horses, featured a card of eight races on Friday at Mysore. This well endowed race managed to attract eight acceptors. The presence of Immense and Sovetskaya was enough to add lustre to this seven furlong event, as both of them had performed creditably during the recently concluded Bangalore Summer Season. They had clashed a number of times in the past and had always ended in the vicinity of each other. The present terms were marginally in favour of Sovetskaya, but the fact that the present trip of seven furlongs was a bit too long for her, somehow made this out to be an even contest between her and immense. As regards the others, Sky Train was appearing in this group after a narrow victory in class I, while Bold Police was still trying to re-discover his old form that he had seemingly lost at Kolkata. Both Immense and Sovetskaya were strongly supported by their respective fans, and the pair started as joint favourites to bag this rich prize. 

The eight of them took off to a level start. Smokin Aces darted to the front and opened-up a ten length lead over Color Me, Immense and Sky Train. Bold Police was held up at the back, and he had only one behind him and that was Sovetskaya. With Smokin Aces slowing down on expected lines, the runners began to get closer at the bend. John chose the shortest way home and managed to wrest the initiative. He urged Immense to grab the lead and move strongly towards the winning post. With Sky Train and Bold Police failing to get closer, it was left to Sovetskaya to go in chase. The five year old devoured ground on the wide outside and started to bridge the gap. With Trevor urging her further, she sailed past Immense without further fuss and registered an authentic victory. This win was a great compliment to trainer Suleiman Attaollahi, as it was the first time that Sovetskaya had managed to win over seven furlongs. Sky Train and Bold Police ran on purposefully to take the minor placings on the result boards. The runner that caught one’s attention was Bold Police. Despite a troubled passage, he still managed to finish fairly close to the winner. With this experience under his belt, and perhaps a stronger rider in the saddle, he is sure to make a mark in his next outing. 

Jockey Suraj Narredu had another fruitful outing on Friday, when he succeeded in scoring yet another treble. The champion jockey was entrusted with a couple of older horses in the two divisions of The Safi Darashah Memorial Trophy, and he managed to guide both of them carefully across the finishing line. Lokanath’s seven year old Talisker had just got demoted from the highest class, and was accordingly allotted the top weight in this class II sprint. He was opposed by the even-money favourite Absolute Majority. The latter was carrying a fairly stiff penalty for his last victory, but since he had won with supreme authority, Absolute Majority was backed confidently to repeat that performance. Both Absolute Majority and Talisker took off smartly from their wide draws and were soon behind Daring Dynamite and Smooth Glider. There was no change in positions as the runners skirted the false rails and turned for home. While Talisker moved smoothly on the wide outside and went in chase of the new leader Smooth Glider, PS Chouhan and Absolute Majority got caught in a terrible traffic jam. With no-where to go, Chouhan was unable to render much assistance from the saddle. The action in front was restricted to the two leaders. Talisker got up in the nick of time to go past a tired Smooth Glider, while Orient Glory came from way off the pace to beat Absolute Majority into fourth place. 

The lower version of this race saw him partnering a six year old named Flying Tricolour. The Sharat Kumar trainee was a known front-runner, and was the second choice behind a bandaged Alcazaar. The latter had faltered a few times as a firm favourite in recent months, but based on his fine track-work, was expected to deliver today. His fans were hugely disappointed to see him put up another pathetic performance. Alcazaar toiled in mid-group and stayed there till the very end. On the other hand, Suraj was able to settle Flying Tricolour behind Miyarsprincess tiil the bend. The others were seen being niggled to match the fast pace set by the leaders. Once Suraj released the brakes, the race was over. Flying Tricolour bounded forward and scored ahead of Nessie, Cielo Signore and Amazing Redd. The last named was the most impressive runner in this race. Despite losing precious ground at the start, he moved strongly in the straight to finish within whispering distance of those ahead of him. Amazing Redd will be too-good-to-miss the day there is “right-money” riding on him. 

Suraj’s third point was scored astride Imtiaz Sait’s Keukenhof. This filly had begun her racing career in June this year with a nice win amongst some well performed maidens. Thereafter, she ran in The Nawab M Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Cup in blinding rain and finished second to Supreme Regime. It is learnt that Imtiaz has kept her back to have a tilt at the Mysore Classics, and the upper division of The K Thammanna Gowda Memorial Trophy, was selected as a lead-up race for her. Being a sprint for class III horses, this race lacked competition. While Keukenhof was available at 35/100, you could back the others at 10’s and over with the bookmakers. Wanting to check her staying abilities, Suraj rode her from the back. He allowed Mountain High, Mom In Law, Mr Carpe and Azure Fire to do the front-running, and kept Keukenhof almost eight lengths behind them in sixth position, as the eleven horses turned for home. The filly was given a tap near the two furlong marker and asked to “go”. Keukenhof accelerated like a seasoned campaigner and won by a widening margin of over six lengths from Stellar Ambition and Mountain High. 

The lower division of this race appeared to be a one-sided affair, as Malesh Narredu’s Lovely Lady came into it with impeccable credentials. After romping home to an effortless victory on debut, she had ended a good sixth to Jersey Shore in The Juvenile Sprinter’s Million. Even though there were a couple of three year olds in the opposition, she wasn’t conceding weight to any of them. The bookmakers held a high opinion about Lovely Lady’s chances and the same was reflected on the betting boards. In a group of eleven, she was a half-money favourite to lift this trophy. Once Refreshed, Triumphant and Superb Style settled into an early lead, Suraj had no option but to keep Lovely Lady covered behind them. Those who had backed this odd-on choice were seen getting nervous at the bend. By this time, Srinath had pushed Neil Darashah’s Triumphant into a nice looking lead over Superb Style and Refreshed. Lovely Lady was still searching for galloping room at the back. She was pulled towards the centre of the track and asked to accelerate. All she could manage thereafter was to pick up a bunch of tired horses and beat Superb Style into third place. Triumphant has shown a lot of improvement and looks capable of winning on promotion. 

Darius Byramji’s Starscream had begun the day’s proceedings by upsetting the applecart of a pair of heavily backed runners. Sharat Kumar’s Too Cold To Hold and Lokanath’s Brownie cornered a bulk of the betting in this mile event for horses five years old and over in class IV. Apart from some fair performances on the training track, bottom-weighted Starscream had no racing form whatsoever. She was known to be troublesome at the gates, and despite her fine pedigree, was yet to win a race in a fairly long career. Behram hit the front in the early stages and showed the way to Mr Hurricane, Too Cold To Hold and Brownie. After a reasonable start, Starscream raced in fifth, while the others lost touch with the front-runners. The runners began to bunch up at the bend. While Too Cold To Hold came under strong pressure from John, Brownie was seen drifting off a straight course. In the midst of all this, Starscream responded nicely to Irvan Singh’s urgings, lengthened her strides and scampered home to a surprising victory. Too Cold To Hold ended marginally ahead of Brownie and claimed the runner-up berth. 

The only other race during the afternoon was another mile event for those rated between 40-65. A couple of horses fancied in early morning trade were neglected as we approached the actual time of the race. The odds against Sumitomo and Royal Surprise drifted violently, as fairly large sums of money were seen being wagered on Sharat Kumar’s Go Green. Not many seemed to consider the chances of last outing winner Potomac, as he was running on a double-promotion. He had carried a heavy load while winning in the lowest category, and was obviously participating at the lowest weight today. Even the continued presence of PS Chouhan in the saddle failed to enthuse a majority of the punters. Finally, it was those who reposed faith in this bandaged horse that reaped the bounty. With Sumitomo breaking down at the bend, and Go Green running out of gas in the straight, the stage was set for Potomac’s arrival. He came charging down the middle and skipped clear of God Is Great and Miss Ching. Most of the others were seen crawling as they crossed the finishing line.