Dominic trained Rock With U literally toyed with his opponents while cantering away with The Nargis Darashah Memorial Trophy at the Mysore races on Thursday. By winning the seven furlong handicap for horses in class II, he joined an elite group of three year olds that have graduated to class I this year. For a horse that began his racing career only at the end of March, this was his fifth win in six career starts. Realizing his true potential, as well as an ability to handle a tough racing schedule, Dominic has kept him busy over the last seven months. Rock With U’s best victory was achieved in The Vybrant Million at Hyderabad. Even though there were many well performed three year olds in the said race, he came with a long stretch run to win near the winning post. Even though he had never won beyond a sprint, his effort at Malakpet suggested that he would be equally comfortable over a slightly extended trip. Keeping that in mind, the connections chose to run him in Thursday’s feature at Mysore, and entrusted him to his regular partner PS Chouhan.  Being the only youngster in a group of ten, Rock With U started as a half-money favourite in this race. An older Amazing Redd was available at 6/1, while you could literally write your own card on the others. 

The actual race turned out to be a mere procession. Rock With U was eased into an early lead, and the bay hugged the rails and showed the way to Cool Approach, Ashkan and Amazing Redd. The leader was travelling so comfortably in front , that it was difficult to imagine any of the others getting anywhere close to him.  After a couple of careful looks at those behind him, Chouhan eased him completely in the straight and allowed him to amble past the winning post. A hard ridden Amazing Redd managed second ahead of a fully extended Ashkan. The winner is in such great form, that a win for him in the highest category looks like a near certainty. Much shall be heard about this horse in the winter months. 

Chouhan cornered the day’s honours by scoring a superb treble. His other two winners were the Z Darashah trained pair of Belle Etoile and All For Cash.  The V Vijay Kumar Memorial Trophy, a 1400 metres race for local horses,  had a couple of strongly fancied contenders. Bipin Salvi’s Grand Success received all round support to start as a favourite ahead of the Kishore trained Time Flies. With money coming onto the two of them in a big way, the odds against All For Cash and Yamas expanded alarmingly at race time. With two kilos claimed by apprentice Noornabi, Grand Success came at a tidy mark in this event. The free striding horse tried to make every post a winning one, but his bid was foiled in the final furlong. Chouhan brought All For Cash with a smooth run towards the centre of the track and managed to get the better of Grand Success close home. A more impressive runner in this race was Yamas. Even though Franco DaSilva gave him too much to do in the straight, the brave hearted six year old came with fluent strides to finish a very close third. His trainer may do well to run him at a low weight in the higher category. 

The day had begun with the two divisions of a seven furlong handicap reserved for horses in the lowest category. It was another great opportunity for some low rated horses to earn their corn bills. Those that had been unable to win a race on the Bangalore track were given an opportunity to do so on Thursday. Pradeep Annaiah’s Autumn Red had run a close fourth to Wind Tunnel in July. The fact that the winner had won twice in succession thereafter on the Mysore track, was enough reason for the punters to back Autumn Red in the day’s opener.  With leading jockey Suraj astride, Autumn Red performed on expected lines and swamped his opponents. Allowing Immaculate to lead on sufferance, Suraj held back the favourite in second spot till the bend. He pressed the accelerator only after straightening for home. The five year old bounded forward and opened up a nice looking lead into the final furlong. With nothing really looking threatening, Suraj rode him hands-n-heels thereafter to sail past the winning post. Truthandfaith came with a late bid to move ahead of All Clear, who ultimately had to be content with the third spot. The winner is sure to receive a stiff penalty for this runaway victory, and it is more than likely that he may take a while to re-enter the winners enclosure. 

The upper division had another strong favourite in Tharun Thimmaiah’s Sweet Angel. Even though this mare had never done well over seven furlongs, there were many who felt that since the present group of horses were quite “ordinary”, it would not be a problem for her to score today.  While she was backed at even-money in the betting rings, the others were freely available at eight’s and over with the bookmakers. Her inability to tackle this distance led to her undoing once again. Imran Chisty tried to keep in touch with the front-running trio of Belle Etoile, Glamour Boy and Small Cruise, and allowed Sweet Angel to travel wide till the bend. His posture in the saddle indicated that the favourite was travelling comfortably till that stage. However, everything changed in the straight. While Belle Etoile and Glamour Boy quickened in the last furlong, Sweet Angel came under pressure and surrendered tamely to finish a poor third. The action in front saw PS Chouhan and Belle Etoile getting stronger with each stride and sealing a well deserved victory over Ashok Kumar’s mount Glamour Boy. Incidentally, it was after a long while that trainer Z Darashah was seen leading-in a winner. 

Imran Chisty’s fans had immediate compensation in the very next race, when they saw him steering Darius Byramji’s hot favourite Wind Surfer to a hard fought victory. After getting knocked around in the back-stretch, the three year old filly was lucky to find a clear passage in the straight. She moved towards the inner rails and had to be fully ridden out right upto the winning post. Because of her superb victory over Placerville’s Glory in summer, Wind Surfer was a short-priced favourite today. Her present mark allowed her to run against other three year olds in class IV.  Since a majority of them were Mysore based horses, it was difficult to pick a worthy opponent. While the speedy Kentucky Rose took a good jump and matched strides with Alala and Smart Mistral, Wind Surfer met with interference at the start. Imran panicked and tried his best to look for galloping space towards the inner rails. He gambled by staying there and was lucky to be rewarded for his perseverance. Kentucky Rose was the first into the straight and the filly enjoyed a two length lead over the others. But she was soon joined by Wind Surfer on her inside. Under some relentless whipping from Imran, the favourite moved ahead in the final stages and won with a measure of comfort. Smile Stone came with a long stretch run to finish a clear third. 

The Urs Kar Trophy, a mile handicap for horses five years old and over in class IV, was the first Trophy event in the day’s card.  Lokanath trained Brownie was a marginal favourite ahead of S Narredu’s Saratoga Spring. While the former had done well to finish third over an identical trip earlier in the season, Saratoga Spring was being fancied because of his placed effort over a shorter distance. The presence of Suraj Narredu in the saddle, enthused many to back the top-weighted Saratoga Spring in this event. They were a disappointed group after the race got over.  The unpredictable galloper ran one of the worst races of his career and failed to figure on the result boards. After no-hopers Youre Rocking and Bounty Hunter had done the front-running and gotten tired, it was Beautiful Life and Starscream that looked promising. However, under some forceful riding from apprentice Sarvan Kumar, it was Brownie that arrived in the nick of time and beat the two of them near the finishing line. The young apprentice waved his whip in jubilation, as he was winning a race after a fairly long time. 

The last race witnessed the eclipse of hot favourite Galaxy Queen. This three year old filly had run some great races earlier in her career, when she had finished in the vicinity of horses like Yakeen, Keturah and Azure Fire. After winning a maidens event in June, she had run twice this season. The first run was in a “Mile Million”, while the next occasion was a seven furlong handicap in her own class. Since she was clashing with Bangalore based youngsters like Guts And Glory, Seven Of Hearts and Azetic Star, that day, it was obvious that she would find it tough to finish ahead of them. She ran on expected lines and ended a decent fourth. Galaxy Queen was meeting a bunch of local horses on Thursday. She stood tall in this set and selected herself as the top contender for the first prize. Those who like to back short-priced horses, had selected her as a definite wager during the afternoon. With an in-form John in the saddle, she was expected to romp home for an effortless victory. However, what transpired on the track was quite different. Galaxy Queen trailed the field from the word “go” and ended in mid-group at the finish. Trainer Monappa was called upon to explain such a poor performance by his charge, but he had no answers. The race was won by the bottom weighted Enduring Speed. This winner, who was ridden by Vijay Kumar and trained by Bipin Salvi, was lucky to start in this race. The veterinary doctors had a close look at his trotting action, before allowing the seven year old to get stalled.