Karthik Ganapathy trained War Command(Ace-Sure Future / Poonawalla Stud) emerged victorious in the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club Mysore 2000 Guineas – Grade 3, the second classic of the Mysore Races 2014. The ‘Goldie Brown’ silks of Dr.M.A.M.Ramaswamy had won this race last year with Southern Emperor and with this victory the ‘Classics’ tally of Dr.Ramaswamy soared to 585.

War Command had raced four times before coming down to Mysore for the Guineas. He had won a maidens’ on debut at Mumbai and then placed fourth to Be Safe in a Million. His third start was in the G1 Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi Million where he finished third to Shivalik Storm. The son of Ace then outclassed the opposition in the G2 F.D.Wadia Trophy at Pune.  

The local hero Fink garnered maximum support to win the Guineas after having won all his seven starts right from a sprint to a mile. War Command who was going over the mile trip for the first time emerged as the main threat to Fink. The track had taken  over eight inches of rainfall in the last eight days and the going was soft.

Supreme Dominator went to the front to lead the field within the first 100 metres and War Command who looked eager to do that job was held back by jockey A.Sandesh. Super Strong raced a close third followed by Fink settling well along the fence. Zucchero and Boooker Jones formed the pair in the rear another two lengths adrift. Nearing the half-way stage they were racing in almost the same order and War Command had by then settled nicely. Turning for home War Command got to the lead quickly with Fink starting to put up a challenge. A furlong left from home War Command seemed to be in full control and Fink was under tremendous pressure. War Command cruised ahead to win by 2 ¼ lengths. Zucchero rallied late to deny the runner-up berth to Fink. Booker Jones filled the judge’s frame. Fink returned lame on his right fore.

Jockey A.Sandesh wrapped up the supporting race of the day, the Mysore Dasara Sprint Championship - Grade 3 with a brilliant piece of riding on Whispering Gallery (Bachelor Duke-Intellectual / Hazara Stud). Rock With You set off on a start to finish bid Whispering Gallery moved quickly from the outermost draw to be on its haunches. As they headed past the 400 metres board Rock With You started to tire out and Whispering Gallery who loves the going shot to the front. Shivalik Star began to close up from the outside and kept the fight alive till the last 100 metres but Sandesh kept his filly going well till the end to spare a length at the wire.

  Icepick Willie (Ace-Battle Star / Poonawalla Stud) from Satish Narredu’s yard scored its maiden win in the Mrs.Ammani Ramachandran Memorial Trophy. Fioritta set a fast pace and tried to make it start to finish. Icepick Willie racing in third position till the top of the straight was pulled out to make its bid and with apprentice Ajit Kumar riding out, sped past Fioritta in front of the grand stand. Amazon Bay and Better Than Ever finished third and fourth respectively.

Trainer C.Girinath picked up his first win of the season with Absolute Brave (Glory of Dancer-Exotic Moves / Nanoli Stud) in the K.T.Shamaiah Gowda Memorial Trophy. The 5 year old gelding who had remained a maiden after 17 starts finally came good under Melvyn Maseyk to pull off a pillar to post victory. Coming in to the final straight with a lead of over three lengths, Absolute Brave kept kicking on and started to drift out in the last 200 metres but still managed to win by over five lengths. Shaka Zulu rallied on to be the runner-up. Strive And Serve and Grand Success finished third and fourth respectively. Starstruck was a non-starter in the race.  

Despite two of his well backed horses –Trust Me Boy and Better Than Ever- failing to oblige, trainer Amit Cady scored a double through Ordered Steps and Summer Sun. Both the winners were ridden by A.Ramu. Available at nourishing odds, Summer Sun (Royal Gladiator-Angeles / Pratap Stud) stormed home in the final 200 metres to win the Srimathi Jayadevi Memorial Trophy. Summer Sun had finished a notable second in its last start here but still was available at nourishing odds. The 6 year old raced at the rear for most part of the race with Devine Friendship looking to go start to finish. As they came into the final straight Summer Sun still in about tenth position, was pulled out to make his bid from the extreme outside even as Devine Friendship was looking good in front having staved off the challenge of Beyond Thankful.  Summer Sun improved rapidly to cover plenty of ground and sizzled past all the horses in front to win by a clear 2 ½ lengths. Devine Friendship finished second and Freneme took the third spot.

 Ordered Steps (New Famous-Waves of Beauty / Yeravada Stud) shed her maiden status in a runaway fashion in the opening race of the day, the lower division of the Sunderbans Plate. Showing plenty of speed at start, Ordered Steps hit the front in a jiffy and was never in any sort of discomfort. The rider A.Ramu in-fact started to look back repeatedly on entering the home stretch and despite being eased up won by a big margin of eight lengths. For the record Fashion Flame, Encourager and Reva filled the frame in that order.

S.Rakesh trained Smart Mistral (Sedgefield-Oberon’s Mistral / Jai Govind Stud) pulled it off in the lower division of the Hastinapura Plate. Moving well to get to the front immediately after the start, Smart Mistral led with a comfortable margin and kicked on gamely in the straight. Kir Royale held on to the second place from Young Gallant.

Jayem’s Pride (Epicentre-Golden Shower / A B Stud) from the stables of B.Puttanna won the higher division of the Sunderbans Plate. The 5 year old got a flyer at start and set off in front for the 5 ½ furlongs dash. As they straightened up for the final run the favourite Galway Girl who had fallen back early, had improved gradually to challenge the leader. As the ‘Girl’ moved alongside she started to veer out badly. Jayem’s Pride also began to drift out of the straight course but jockey Y.S.Srinath drove her out strongly to stay a length in front of Galway Girl at the winning post. Golden Cruise was a far-away third.

C.V.G.K.Kishore trained Rocketeer (SEnure-Aquila Oculus / Manjri Stud) earned its maiden win in a run-away fashion. Racing a handy fourth till approaching the last 600 metres, Rocketeer made headway quickly from the outside to take charge and lengthened its stride easily. Stone Warrior moved to the second position in the last 300 metres and stayed there till the finish. Shades of Scarlet finished third. Lake of Magic reared up inside the gates and was withdrawn. Samajdaar who was hurt when Lake of Magic fell on the ground was also withdrawn.  

Mumbai import Snow Angel (Noverre-Ashwakrupa / Sohna Stud) came good in its first appearance on the Mysore track to win the division I of the Hastinapura Plate, the concluding race of the day. The favourite Ace Princess was well in front early and the grey Snow Angel settled to track the leader. As they moved into the last 400 metres Snow Angel moved alongside Ace Princess and forged ahead without any fuss. Stretching out impressively Snow Angel spared 2 ¼ lengths to Country’s Nobility at the finish. Pamushana took the third spot in front of the weakening Ace Princess.