C.D.Monnappa schooled Premier Ace (Ace-Premier Collection / Exhilaration Stud) won the Dr.Ishwari G.K.Balakrishnan Memorial Cup, the main event of the nine races card at Mysore in an impressive fashion. The youngster who was on debut was backed to the exclusion of the other runners for the 1100 metres dash, sent off as an on-money favourite at 10-8. The filly matched strides with Kaguya Himei till the 800 metres board and then started to build up the lead. On the final straight Premier Ace there seemed to be no contest from the rest of the field and the filly extended the lead to win by 7 ¼ lengths under Melvyn Meseyk. Kaguya Himei failed to hold on to the second place and lost it to Your Honour Unfair inside the last few strides.   

J.Saravanan trained Galaxy Queen (Mull of Kintyre-Premier Galaxy / Capricon Stud) made amends for her narrow loss in the previous start but in a remarkable fashion. Galaxy Queen ran a detached last till turning for home and those who had their money on her would not have even dreamt of en-cashing their tickets. Entering the straight Queen moved from the outside to grab the lead from Absolute Brave. Castle King surged past Absolute Brave and started to challenge Queen but that effort was turning out to be futile as Queen was kicking on well and looking to pull it off. Galaxy Queen in the meanwhile started to get up from the extreme outside and with a dazzling turn of foot flashed past every runner in remarkable fashion to nail Queen at the wire. The top weighted Castle King finished third another half a length adrift. Jockey A.R.Pradeep who was astride Galaxy Queen completed riding thirty winners.

After stunning upsets in the first three races of the day, Triumphant (Holy Roman Emperor-Alwaysinbloom / Manjri Stud) brought some respite to followers of money in the lower division of the Halebeedu Plate. Triumphant set off well in front over the seven furlongs trip and made every post a winning one. Artic Rose tried to challenge Triumphant inside the last 200 metres but jockey Keanen Steyn kept Triumphant going and was clear by a length and a quarter at the finish. Guapo and Miss International finished third and fourth respectively, with a slender ‘head’ separating them. Alcazaar was withdrawn near the starting gates.

Jockey Keanen Steyn who is riding for the ‘Manjri’ colours piloted Nanuk (Arabian Gulf-Market Guru / Manjri Stud) to victory in the Solitaire Plate. The Zareer Darashah trainee was held well in third right from the start while Go Man Go called the shots followed closely by the well backed favourite Masteroftherolls. Turning for home the leader started to fade out and Masteroftherolls slipped in to take charge. Nanuk joined the favourite near the 300 metres board and after a brief duel travelled the better to pull it off by a length and a half. Masteroftherolls disappointed its supporters for the second time, ending up as the runner-up. As Always rallied on to be in the money.

Trainer Bipin V Salvi whose ward Masteroftherolls failed to justify the favouritism had some consolation when second in demand Charming Night (Charmo-Bottle of Whiskey / Blood Horse Stud) won the Kutta Plate, the concluding race of the day by a lengthening margin. The filly is turning out to be a good miler at this centre having won over the trip for the second successive time. Charming Night made a swift move from the outside as they were turning for home to get into striking position and on top of the straight rushed towards the inner path to get to the front. The daughter of Charmo drew away from the pack with jockey Arshad Alam not having to work hard. Kolaveri Di did well to finish second after being prominent all the way from the start. Anonymous came in late to snatch the third place from La Piperi. The favourite Malkia was a big let down on this track yet again.

The day started off with a shocker coming up from trainer Vikram Appachu’s stables. Winning Desire (Case Law-Capistrano / Govind Stud) whose last win was exactly a year ago went on a start to finish mission in the Kovalam Plate and held on successfully by the shortest of margin. Jockey M.Rajesh Kumar took Winning Desire to the front quickly at start. Iridium was in second followed by Sweet November and Rocket Ronnie. Into the straight Winning Desire was still relentless in front with Rocket Ronnie closing the gap. The two headed almost together towards the winning post and Winning Desire held on by a paper thin margin. Vettel rallied on to finish third ahead of Sweet November. Erica, Shining Fame and Lake of Magic were non-starters in the race.

Time Matters (International-Claribel / Mebajeona Stud) from C.D.Monnappa’s stables pulled off a stunning upset in the Splash Plate. The favourite Golden Steps took charge on top of the home stretch and was travelling well. Green Emerald and Brigadier started to make their bid but were not able to get to the leader. Time Matters in the meanwhile began to gallop from the wide outside and with a big run flashed past Golden Steps. Brigadier finished third.

Trainer S.Santosh Rao who had failed to win through the favourite Golden Steps in the previous race, wrapped off the lower division of the Varuna Plate with longshot Peppr (Sharp Attack-Working Progress / Gee Stud). Peppr was the biggest upset of the day, paying a whopping Rs.330 for a tenner. The bottom weighted Peppr hit the front at start and led the dozen runners. Inside the last 200 metres Peppr continued to kick on gamely even as Thrillseeker tried hard in second. The favourite Ice Sprint finished a tame third without a fight.

Ranjeet Shinde trained Its My Party (Mischevious Music-Shift Over / Pratap Stud) scored a second successive victory in the division I of the Varuna Plate. The 7 year old chestnut gelding came out smartly from an outward draw and settled well in second behind Queens Cruise. Turning for home Queens Cruise went wide and Its My Party slipped in close to the rails to forge ahead and then staved off the strong bid of Bold Nature towards the closing stages. Windsor Park in the new colours finished in the money ahead of Queens Cruise.