After intermittent showers during the past one week, and a long spell of rainfall on Wednesday evening, Mysore city was blessed with some clear weather on Thursday morning. The authorities at The Mysore Race Club decided to go ahead with the scheduled programme, and the nine event card began on time. After the first three races were over, the heavens opened-up and the turf was drenched once again. The grey skies confirmed that this was not going to stop in a hurry, and the underfoot conditions were getting worse by the minute. After a cursory inspection, The Stewards of the Club decided to cancel the balance of the races slotted to be held during the afternoon. The Mysore 1000 Guineas 2013 (grade III) was postponed by a week, and it was announced that the same will now be held on Thursday, September 19^th, 2013. It was further confirmed that the same declarations as announced for today, will hold good on that day. With gloomy weather predicted for the next 72 hours, it is quite possible that Friday’s racing could also meet the same fate. 

The three races held on Thursday included the two divisions of a sprint for horses in the lowest category. It was amusing to see a horse rated “zero” being installed as a firm favourite in the day’s opener. Four year old Gol Matol had never troubled the judge and had always run down the field in all its starts. Since the Club had announced that any horse that is unable to perform at the lowest rating will have to be removed from its premises, it was noticed that the trainer of Gol Matol had subjected her to some solid preparation. As she had shown improvement in her form and fitness, trainer Prasanna Kumar had entrusted her to jockey P Trevor. Gol Matol showed a lot of early speed and settled into second place behind Sarvani. A tightly packed group led by Fashion Flame and Sayyonee were seen chasing the leading pair, as the runners turned for home. It was hereabouts that Gol Matol grabbed the lead, but her dominance was extremely short-lived as she was soon tackled and passed by Fashion Flame. Under the guidance of Vivek, this Mahesh trained filly sped away for a smashing victory. She ended many lengths ahead of a tired Gol Matol, Sayyonee and a fast finishing Blue Origin. The last named was a trifle unlucky, as she was the beneficiary of an extremely poor ride from jockey Noorulla. 

The upper division of this race saw rank outsider Chantilly Jewel succeeding in her start-to-finish mission. She knocked out the pool hunters by paying 180/1 at the totalizators. Taking off from a wide draw, Chantilly Jewel had little problem in hitting the front. She was chased by Youre A Legend and the favourite Tic Tac Toe till the bend. Once her nearest pursuers got tired in the straight, Chantilly Jewel had it easy. Since those that were making a bid from the back were too far away, the leader was able to last out till the winning post. Madhu Babu rode this six year old from trainer Natraj’s yard with a lot of enthusiasm. Signifies, Gambit and Taylor Made surely tried to bridge the gap, but were still marginally shy at the wire. All three of them showed a marked improvement over their recent form, and served notice of an early success. Dickey-legged Taylor Made returned lame after this race. 

The third and final event held today was expected to be a close affair between B Puttanna’s Mark and the Ganapathy trained Glorious Moments. It was a seven furlong handicap for horses in class IV.  On the basis of his second placed effort behind Cinch the other day, Mark justified his place at the top of the betting boards. There was much hype around Glorious Moments chances. It was felt that this daughter of Multidimensional had been campaigned over an unsuitable trip of 1100 metres in all three starts, and this was going to be the first time that she was running over a favourable distance. Furthermore, since her dam Santorini Star had revelled over a longer course, there were many who backed her with confidence. All her supporters were dismayed to see what transpired on the track. Jockey Franco DaSilva  tapped Glorious Moments with his whalebone throughout the race, but the filly performed like a dud. She kept dropping through the field and finally ended in the ruck. She definitely has some sort of a problem, as Glorious Moments was more keen to move sideways than move forward. It may be prudent to stay away from her from a betting perspective in future. The action in front unfurled kindly for the punters. In the hands of Srinath, public choice Mark tracked a bunch of no-hopers till the bend. Once Brazilian came under pressure at that stage and moved off the inside rails, a huge gap appeared for those behind him. Mark made full use of this opportunity and shot ahead of the others. It was smooth sailing thereafter. He was ridden hands-n-heels for rest of the way and was almost five lengths clear of Brazilian and Born To Perform at the finish.