For over a year  it was Trevor Patel  and now John has joined Trevor, the two darlings of the railbirds.  John riding  like one possessed, to his credit has booted home 14 winners at this centre including the four he piloted on Friday while Trevor continues to  dominate at all the premier racing  centres enjoying a  very high strike rate. The two now have achieved the bankable status which is not easy to acquire and maintain in this sport.

John opened his account through the Arjun Manglorkar schooled Priority in the opening event, the lower division of the Summer Dust Plate. The second in demand at the betting ring looked a winner the moment John pushed him to dictate the pace.  Surnaturel from Ganapathy’s yard who garnered the maximum support  failed to make a favourable impression and eventually finished a poor fourth. Universal Law from trainer Warren Singh’s yard appears to have improved most, finishing a game second and this Warren ward  will soon earn his winning bracket.

John,  next had it easy on the Prasanna-trained youngster Alaina in the A P Kothavala Memorial Cup run over a sprint. The young and promising  trainer Prasanna Kumar  who quietly makes his presence felt against the best at this centre, winning his share of races sent out the good looking daughter of Ikhtyar in spot on condition and the chestnut filly justified the confidence of her trainer romping home in resplendent style. Nyssa from Dominic’s yard raced in patches while finishing a game second and it will not be long before he sheds his maiden status. Scenic Park too made a favourable impression and her turn will come in the weeks ahead.

Astride the favourite Capitalize from trainer Lokanath’s yard in the U R Siddheswarappa Memorial Plate, John needed to stretch every sinew to gain the day on the public choice, snuffing out the challenge of Sheer Elation, partnered by Trevor Patel. Doc Holliday  was never in the hunt, a trifle slow at the gates and then in no mood to make a race of it. Albertino in the hands of apprentice Syed Imran produced a fair effort and is one for the notebook.

After completing a treble, John back on another Lokanath ward All In didn’t really need to raise a sweat winning the Raichur Plate in a common canter.  The on-money favourite Freestyle from Faraz Arshad’s yard  who failed to jump out level failed to recover lost ground all through the backstretch  despite Trevor making every effort and in the straight, Freestyle just  packed up and finished second last. This  dismal effort after his splendid performance in the lower class shocked the followers of form and calls for an explanation.

After John stole the show booting home four winners, Irfan Ghatala who raised a toast after Brilliant Cut’s superb victory in the 2000 Guineas recorded a hat-trick.  The 10 to one shot Chul Bul Pandy from his yard  made every post a winning one in the hands of Ahsan Qureshi in the main division of the Kempegowda Cup, the feature event run over a sprint. Topspot on the strength of his last effort, beaten at the post by Kingston Town  and the advantageously placed at the scale Supreme Dominator  were the two joint favourites but both failed to make an impression, the former failing to make the board while Supreme Dominator finished  a fair third beind Mandarin. Chul Bul Pandy won handsomely and is poised to provide an encore.

Next Irfan sent out Gabino and the public choice who had caught the eye while finishing  second behind the highly rated Silver Legend in his last effort provided leading pro Pradeep Chouhan an arm-chair ride to success in  the upper division of the Summer Dust Plate.  A smart last start winner Desert Gilt  in his attempt to make every post a winning one finished second while Attractive Bay took the third spot  ahead Of Hurrah. G Adarsh astride Ignition had a bad fall in this event but the pro was lucky to escape with minor injuries.

In line for a hat-trick, Irfan sent out Vigorous fit asa fiddle and Srinath packed punch on the six to one shot to score in the Horanadu Plate run over a sprint.  Youre Ashwashakthi from Neil Darashah’s yard opened the favourite but many   punters chose to ignore the credentials of the Neil ward aware of the fact that Youre Ashwashakthi is a bleeder. And this is what  stopped the favourite from earning his cornbill, bursting his blood vessel when poised to assume command at the distance post. Bazinga despite not being really ridden to win caught the eye finishing third ahead of Precious Glitter who also  appears fit and ready to strike it rich in the weeks ahead.

Earlier Srinath booted home the well backed favourite Aayan to an effortless victory in the Kemmangundi Plate run over a mile and Suraj Narredu drove home the five to one shot Sun Glow in the second division of the Kempegowda Cup.