A brilliant performance from Mohd Khan’s Turf Striker featured Friday’s racing at Bangalore. The grey proved to be much too strong for his class I opponents in The Ashoka Chakra Cup, and the manner in which he won this race, showed that he is back in form. The three year old had finished a game second to Alaindair in The Kingfisher Derby. A number of talented youngsters had ended way behind him in that race, and some of them had gone on to do well in Classics at other centres. Once Alaindair returned to Western India, the Mysore Classics seemed to be at the mercy of Turf Striker. But that was not to be. Turf Striker suffered a setback in training and was rested for the next few weeks. The connections ran him in the 2000 Guineas and the Derby at Mysore, but he was nowhere near fit at that point in time. In both those races, he ended about a dozen lengths behind the winner. After a gap of one month, and some good track work in recent days, Turf Striker had accepted to start in the day’s feature. Because of his second in the Derby, Turf Striker had been rated at a mark of 80 by the local handicapper. Since he came in as the  bottom weight in this race, he needed a light-weight jockey. It is learnt that Suraj Narredu, who had been working him regularly, wanted to ride him. He tried to convince the owners that the a few extra kilos would make no difference to his chances, as Turf Striker was much better than his present rivals. Not wanting to take any chances, the yard entrusted him to PS Chouhan and Turf Striker carried him to a bloodless victory. He more than justified the short odds quoted on him by the bookmakers.

Barring Turf Striker, the other seven took-off to a level start. After coming slowly out of the gates , the favourite took a while to find his rhythm. However, he moved steadily on the wide outside, and was soon by the side of Camorra. The pair led at a steady pace and the two of them strode clear of a tightly packed group headed by Mountain Range and Sun Kingdom. The contest became totally one-sided at the bend. Turf Striker streaked into the lead and was seen enjoying his solitude in front. Despite traveling on tight reins, he was extending his margin of victory. Sun Kingdom and Ratham made up some ground from the rear to save place money for their respective connections. The sporting owner of Turf Striker was delighted with this performance. On this showing, the horse has confirmed that he is back to his best and is on target to run well in the winter classics at this centre.

Jockey PS Chouhan excelled on Friday by succeeding astride a number of horses.The other two winners for Chouhan came from Dominic’s yard. Two year old Sairani and Nocturnal Hunter enabled the leading jockey to complete a coveted treble. A sprint for first season two year olds attracted eight runners. The presence of Ganapathy’s Bold Majesty generated much interest in this race. This son of Multidimensional had finished second behind a runaway Jersey Bride a couple of weeks ago, and was expected to gain from that experience. However, there were a number of horses that were backed to take him on in this race. Dominic’s Sairani and Suleiman Attaolahi’s Star Of Destiny had equal support in the betting rings. It was amusing to see the betting boards. The three of them seemed to be playing musical-chairs, as each one of them enjoyed favouritism in those few minutes before the start of this race. Blitzschnelle leapt out of the gates and set a comfortable pace ahead of Sairani. After a sluggish start, Star of Destiny and Bold Majesty joined the issue. The four of them pulled away from the rest and were almost together at the final turn. It was here that Chouhan pressed the accelerator. Sairani responded gamely to his urgings, and darted ahead of the rest. With Blitzschnelle and Star Of Destiny calling it a day, it was left to Bold Majesty to go in chase. He did well to close the gap, but was still shy at the wire. On both occasions, Bold Majesty has shown that he would be more effective over a longer course. A lot of money went down with Star Of Destiny. This nice looking colt needs time to mature, as he ran green for most of the way.

Nocturnal Hunter presented Chouhan with his third winner of the afternoon. He had been knocking on the door for the last few months and had been finishing in the vicinity of the winners on a number of occasions. The Dominic trainee had always been beaten in the final stages of a race. Chouhan chose to ride him differently today. Instead of going charging to the front, he waited with Nocturnal Hunter till the bend. After Isle Of Fire and Artic Breeze had done the difficult job of making the pace, Nocturnal Hunter arrived on the scene. With Chouhan waving his whip at him, the four year old got stronger in the final furlong and went away for a very easy victory. Isle Of Fire held onto her second berth ahead of a late finishing Presidents Rule. The last named failed to justify the confidence of his numerous supporters by putting up a listless performance.

Another three year old that impressed on Friday was the Dhariwal trained Agostini. Much was expected from this son of Burden Of Proof , but he had failed to match strides with some highly regarded three year olds during the Summer Classics. Looking a picture of fitness in the parade ring, he carried a back-breaking weight to a smart victory. Agostini was conceding exactly eleven kilos to last outing winner Regal Boast in this mile handicap today. Those who like to do pure handicapping felt that this was an unequal contest. They backed Regal Boast with confidence, but were seen praising Agostini after the race was over. Artorius , Azetic Star and Regal Boast raced in close order in front and set a good pace ahead of Guts And Glory. Trevor chose to race Agostini off-the-pace, and the pair was seen relaxing at the back. The field began to bunch up near the bend. With Artorius skipping clear in the straight, both Agostini and Regal Boast came under pressure. With Agostini digging deep into his reserves of stamina, the colt devoured ground on the wide outside , collared the leader and sailed away to a comfortable victory. Regal Boast managed to take the runner-up berth by beating Artorius on the post. It must be mentioned that the winning time of this race was almost as fast as that clocked by Turf Striker in the highest category. If one considers the fact that Agostini carried about a dozen kilos more than  Turf Striker, then this was an equally good performance. Both of them are likely to clash next in the Bangalore 2000 Guineas.

The Kabini Cup, a handicap for horses four years old and over in class II, was the added attraction in the day’s card.  Irfan Ghatala’s recently demoted Valahak was the rage in this race. The chestnut had run and won against top class horses in the past, and it was felt that he would be good enough to beat his rivals today. Despite his heavy impost, Valahak was backed down to 14/10 as the runners entered the starting gates. However, he ran poorly throughout this race. After taking a level start , he was seen racing prominently till the bend. Thereafter, he started to drop back and faded out of contention. The action in front centered around Magnitude Star, Mi Amor, One Time Magic, Violent Storm and Open Page. Once the leading trio got tired at the bend, the race was restricted to Violent Storm and Open Page. The pair fought out a spirited duel for the next furlong , and were next to each other till the distance post. It was hereabouts that Violent Storm asserted his superiority. With Imran Chisty giving him a couple of back-handers, the Byramji ward galloped away to an exciting victory. Veyron came from a long way back to beat Magnitude Star into fourth place.

Trainer Padmanabhan was another professional who saddled a couple of winners during the afternoon. Horses from his yard have been doing well this season and Friday was another occasion when two runners from his stable managed to win their respective events. Three year old Aashikaara set the ball rolling by winning the day’s opener. It was the lower division of a seven furlong handicap for horses in class IV. Ungoogleable and Seven Of Hearts were the other fancied youngsters in this group. All three of them had managed to figure on the board in earlier starts, but were yet to emerge from the maiden ranks. Once Seven Of Hearts lost precious ground at the jump, the race was confined to Aashikaara and Ungoogleable. John took Aashikaara to the front and ensured that he traveled the shortest way home. Imran Chisty and Ungoogleable loomed large on the outside as the pair kicked clear of the rest. At one stage it appeared as though Ungoogleable was traveling better than Aashikaara, but that wasn’t true. The latter kicked clear in the final furlong and went on to score a fairly easy victory. Delilah ended a faraway third. Seven Of Hearts tried his best to make up the lost ground, but was unable to do so. With a level start, he looks well enough to pick up a similar race later in the season.

Padmanabhan had to wait till the last race of the day before leading-in his next winner. It was the upper division of the above-mentioned event. The well-bred Pearl Reward had run only once in his career and had finished a poor tenth on debut in summer. His subsequent track trials indicated his present form and fitness, and the horse was equally fancied alongside Amazonas and Absolute Red. With stray support flowing in the direction of Crown Emperor as well as Mantra, this race had the makings of a real pot-boiler. Crown Emperor streaked to the front and set a good pace ahead of Grand Applause, Pearl Reward and Himavari. Amazonas and Absolute Red were finding it difficult to keep pace with the front runners. With Crown Emperor continuing to dominate proceedings in the straight and enjoying a healthy lead at that stage, the others came under pressure. While Dashrath Singh brought Pearl Reward through the middle, Suraj chose to produce Amazonas on the wide outside. It was evident that the only one who looked capable of catching the leader was Pearl Reward. His long and fluid strides enabled him to force his way to the front and beat Crown Emperor near the winning post. Amazonas and Mantra settled for the minor slots on the result boards.