Michael Eshwer's Diamond Hunter produced a sparkling turn of foot to storm ahead and wins The Horse Lover's Mysore Dasara Sprint Championship on Friday. This performance showed that the seven year old has retained his zest for racing, as also, that he is currently in the best form of his long career. His love for the local track can be gauged from the fact that some of his best performances have been seen at Mysore. It is difficult to forget the day he sailed past a helpless Sprint Star in early September.

Those who had allowed him to run friendless on that occasion were not going to repeat the mistake today. Despite the presence of a younger group led by Celestial Way and Kyles Of Bute, Diamond Hunter had numerous supporters. He was installed as a close third favourite behind the above mentioned horses, as he was reverting to his pet distance of six furlongs. There was no doubt that Celestial Way was the strongest contender in the day's feature. Her unbeaten record during the Summer Season was impeccable, and being a four year old, she had further scope for improvement. Trainer Padmanabhan had sharpened her on the training track, and the longish absence from a race track wasn't expected to make much of a difference.

Arjun's Kyles Of Bute had won his last two starts including a recent one at Malakpet. Even though the field was relatively small, this seven horse event was expected to be a thriller. The speedy Miss Ruby darted out of the gates and went ahead of Originality. Prakash took a good jump with Celestial Way and was able to settle her behind the leaders. Diamond Hunter was caught the widest of all, and not wanting to break his strides, Srinath allowed him to continue traversing the same path.

Kyles Of Bute, Magnanimity and Classic Charge were close beind, as the runners made their way towards the home turn. There was a bit of a jostling near the bend as the riders jockeyed for positions. Prakash urged Celestial Way and asked her to quicken. She responded gamely in the final furlong, and went ahead of those on her inside. Prakash was always aware of the looming danger in the form of Diamond Hunter.

The chestnut was ranging on his outside and Srinath was poised to launch his attack. Diamond Hunter was travelling the better of the two, and it was only a question of time. He managed to put his neck in front and retained that advantage till the very end. Originality and Kyles Of Bute rallied to finish close behind them. Srinath, who had ridden an impeccable race on the winner, was a deserving recipient of the applause that he got on the way to the unsaddling enclosure.

The Sanctity Trophy, a class II handicap for horses five years old and over, attracted a dozen acceptors. With Ganapathy and Imran Khan firing on all cylinders, racegoers decided to go nap on Phoenix Reach. This mare had finished powerfully from the rear to end fourth in her last start. An extra furlong in today's race was well within her compass. There was stray support for Edmondo and Cafe Coffee. The last named had burst a blood vessel while running as a hot favourite during winter. He was given an easy outing in his only run this season, when he had ended a fair third. Trainer Surender decided to give him further relief by claiming an allowance on this horse. In the hands of Mubarak, Cafe Coffee made up lots of ground in the straight to lower the colours of Phoenix Reach.

The third trophy event during the afternoon was The KT Shamaiah Gowda Memorial Trophy. In a large bunch of twelve, only two runners inspired confidence. Attaolahi's Corleone and Tharun trained Chronicle stood tall in this set. While the former possessed blinding speed, the latter was one the most impressive winners during Bangalore Summer. The handicapper had given him a penalty of twenty five points. It is difficult to remember another Class V winner that had received such treatment in the past.

Notwithstanding this double promotion and a step up in Class, Chronicle was backed down to odds-on favouritism. One could hear loud whispers that this horse was destined to reach the highest class. What actually transpired on the track was slightly different. With a postage stamp weight on his back, Corleone made the early running and led into the home straight. Imran Chisty looked extremely confident astride the favourite, as he was yet to release his breaks on the horse.

Apprentice Nausad Alam surprised many by the response that he got from Corleone after entering the straight. He put his head down and pushed vigorously. Corleone lengthened his strides and charged towards the winning post. Imran Chisty had been caught napping as the lead looked fairly large. It must go to the credit of Chronicle that he made up a lot of ground in the final furlong, and was distinctly unlucky to lose this race on the post.

A successful gamble was landed on Prince Norbert by the Puttanna stable in the day's opener. This horse was known to be lethargic in the early stages of a race, before warming up in the straight. Even though he was running over a shorter seven furlongs, there was no dearth of support for him. It was difficult to comprehend the confidence of his connections. It took only a couple of minutes to understand the reasons behind their bravado. Prince Norbert took a good jump and was keen from the word "go". Jagadeesh was having trouble holding him behind the leader, as the horse was extremely quick today. Prince Norbert was allowed to go ahead at the bend, and the race was almost over. He galloped away to win comfortably from Spread A Smile and Iwana Dance.

The well bred three year old Black Knight emerged from the maiden ranks by registering a fine win over a sprint in a handicap for horses in Class IV. The Dinesh Pujar trainee was second-in-demand behind top-weighted Rose Of Texas. The favourite dropped her rider on the way to the gates and was withdrawn from this race. This cleared the way for Black Knight, who made all the running and won by a widening five lengths for Chamcha In Chief and Nishi Girl.

A similar event for older horses was won in identical fashion by Kishore's Cute Style. The only difference was, that after leading for the entire trip, he managed to last out by only a short head. Loremo and Refresh made up a lot of ground in the final stages to finish alongside the winner.

The day ended with a popular victory for the Lokanath trained Beautiful Life, who showed a clean pair of heels to an equally fancied Everyday Sunday. Both these three year olds had finished alongside each other in their only start in a terms race this season. Both Byramji and Lokanath decided to run their charges in a mile event for horses in the lowest class. These horses had been prepared to tackle this long trip, and the stables were equally confident.

The same sentiment was reflected on the betting boards as they shared favouritism in this race. Beautiful Life ran prominently till the bend , and made her final move at that stage. Sreekanth drove her into an unassailable lead before having a peep over his left shoulder. Srinath worked very hard on Everyday Sunday, but the horse wasn't good enough to go close to the leader. Hamsafar plodded along to take the third spot.