A brilliant exhibition of speed and acceleration was witnessed by the racing patrons on Friday, when Arjun Mangalorkar’s Shivalik Star stole the limelight by setting a new course record at Mysore. It was not so much the fast timing, but the manner in which it was achieved, that caught everybody’s attention. After establishing a huge lead into the final furlong, John had eased up his mount considerably. Without being further pressurized, Shivalik Star had literally cantered past the winning post. The event was the coveted Mysore Dasara Sprint Championship (grade III), which is held to ascertain the best sprinter at this centre. This year’s field was fairly small, as only seven of them had accepted to face the starter. It also lacked depth, as apart from Shivalik Star and Sovetskaya, none of the others had shown anything in recent months to merit attention. The obvious favourite in this race was Shivalik Star. The four year old had appeared after a longish absence from racing during Bangalore Summer, and was beaten on the post by an in-form Sovetskaya. The two had met at level weights that day. Re-appearing on a race track in early September, he had shown a lot of improvement by trouncing his rivals and setting a new course record at Mysore. He had retained his form and fitness over the last four weeks and was reported to be in fine health. Since he was getting half a kilo from Sovetskaya today, it was difficult to visualize his defeat at the hands of an older mare. The bookmakers held a similar view, as they were seen offering a measly half-money on the favourite.

Barring Sovetskaya, who lost a fair bit of ground at the start, the other six broke level from the gates. Virat established an early advantage and led by a couple of lengths from Shivalik Star, Smokin Aces and Chul Bul Pandy. While Secret Punch stayed in touch with the front-runners, Sovetskaya was about five lengths behind him at the bend. Once Virat came under pressure and drifted out alarmingly, the stage was set for Shivalik Star’s “arrival”. He stormed into the lead, and within the next few seconds, was well clear of the other six. John rode him hands-n-heels thereafter to ease him past the winning post. Chul Bul Pandy came the shortest way home to retain his second spot ahead of a hard ridden Sovetskaya. The latter was unable to make up the lost ground in the straight. Secret Punch plodded along to take the final position on the result boards. The judge confirmed that despite being eased-up, Shivalik Star had won by over five lengths in the fastest timing ever recorded on the local track. In this sort of form, this well bred horse is presently one of the best sprinters in the country.

John was in sublime form, as apart from the day’s feature, he rode another four winners on Friday afternoon. These included a couple of “trophy” events that he won for trainer Prasanna Kumar. The Mysore Jewellery Mart Trophy, a seven furlong handicap for horses in class II, looked fairly competitive. Recent winners like Spaniard, Rich Celebration, Sussex Downs and Lads Gladiator were part of this eleven horse field. John’s mount Thoughts N Actions had come down in his ratings, while the others had progressively moved up the ladder. Realizing this definite advantage, the punters were happy to back him with confidence. Thoughts N Actions justified the support and won handsomely. John took him to the front and set a good pace ahead of Scholar and Rich Celebration. Sussex Downs and Spaniard were niggled all the way to stay in touch with the leaders. There was only one horse that was seen galloping into the straight. Thoughts N Actions spurted at the bend and opened-up a big lead over a hard ridden Rich Celebration. Spaniard got up in the nick of time to beat Sussex Downs into fourth place.

A similar effort in the next race astride Chronicle enabled this Prasanna Kumar trainee to lift The KT Shamaiah Gowda Memorial Trophy. This mile handicap for horses five years old and over, had a strong favourite in Amit Caddy’s Summer Sun. He had won his previous start by a widening margin and shown that he was capable of defying the handicapper. His recent track trials showed that he may have improved further. However, Summer Sun took down a lot of money by performing pathetically. He failed to raise a gallop at any stage of the race and ended off the frame. On the other hand, Chronicle went to the front and stayed there. In fact, he led a procession throughout this race. Mi Amor took-off in second place, and she too retained her position at the finish. In a mad scramble for the minor berths, Last outing winner Roshan Star wove his way through a crowded field to move ahead of the rest and succeeded in saving place money for his numerous supporters. It is difficult to read much into the result of this race, as none of the contenders look capable of winning in “open” company.

A rank outsider named Unexpected Visitor had helped John to open his account for the afternoon. Trainer Kishore had run this three year old filly a number of times, but she had failed to finish anywhere close to the result boards. The only difference this time was the fact that she was running after a break of almost three months and was being ridden by a top class jockey. It took John a bit of time to push her to the front. Since she was drawn on the inside, John did not want his mount to get squeezed out at the start. Once Unexpected Visitor found her rhythm and moved ahead of the others, the jockey was relaxed. The filly was chased by the strongly supported Indian Hero, Peppr and Aerial Acrobat. While those in the chasing group were under severe pressure from their respective jockeys to go further, Unexpected Visitor was enjoying her solitude. She hugged the rails and dominated the action right upto the winning post. Indian Hero tried his best to get the better of Peppr near the wire, but was unable to do so. He finally settled for the third berth. In my opinion, trainer Rakesh may do well to campaign him over a slightly longer trip.

John brought the curtains down for the day by scoring an equally easy victory on Suleiman Attaolahi’s Socrates.  The trainer had acquired this horse a couple of months ago and had given him a lot of work. The youngster was running at a reasonably low weight in handicap company. If one considered the fact that Socrates had run a close third behind Solitaire Royale earlier in his career, then winning today’s race could be a mere formality. Socrates received very strong support in the betting rings. Here again, John took the speedy horse to the front and dictated pace for rest of the way. Union Jack and Homeric were considered to be his closest challengers, but once they began to plod, the race was over. Socrates strode clear of the pack and won as he liked from Magic Wave and Homeric. Trainer Attaolahi can be expected to do well with Socrates in the winter months.

The day’s action had begun with an exciting finish in the afternoon’s opener. Babu Rao’s Dance With Me had recently been demoted to the lowest category. Since she had ended a close third to Ensatus Elegans and Hatchet Harry in one of her starts this season, it was reasonable to assume that she could tackle her present opponents.  After receiving strong support from her camp, Dance With Me took off to a level start. With Rusty and Magnetic Power showing a lot of speed, jockey Mahesh was content to keep Dance With Me in third place. The race took a serious turn at the bend. Arshad Alam pushed Narayana Gowda’s Magnetic Power into the lead at that stage and asked him to “go”. At just about the same juncture, Dance With Me appeared on the outside and joined the fray. Both of them matched strides for rest of the way, and were almost together at the wire. It was clear that Magnetic Power had managed to keep his neck in front of Dance With Me at the finish. A hard ridden Romans Run ended a faraway third. Dance With Me has it in her to win a similar race before the end of this season.

The only other race in the day’s card was a sprint for horses in class IV. The presence of Faraz Arshad’s Blackbird was enough for those looking for a winner. This three year old had run a fortnight ago and tried to make both ends meet over a seven furlong trip. The dark bay colt had been caught and passed by Manta Ray near the winning post. There were a couple of things in his favour today. Firstly, he had done some good work in the past week or so. Secondly, his present opposition looked fairly mediocre. Based on these two factors, Blackbird started  as an odds-on choice of the punters. There was stray support for Alala and Princess Lara with the bookmakers. Saphira, Alala and Ezee Go Lucky set the early pace, and were soon joined by Blackbird on the wide outside. The four of them were abreast at the top of the straight. Those who expected Blackbird to move ahead at this stage were in for a surprise. The colt shortened his strides and lost all his chances by moving sideways. Saphira and Alala too began to slow down. In the midst of all this action, Ezee Go Lucky carried rookie jockey B Harish to the front and caused the biggest upset of the afternoon. Zamindar came from a long way back to beat Alala into third place. Incidentally, Ezee Go Lucky was trainer Prasanna Kumar’s third winner on Friday.