It was exactly a year and a half ago that Cruising made her maiden appearance on the Bangalore race track. By posting a smashing victory in her first ever start, the filly displayed a nice turn of foot and showed a lot of promise. Trainer Dhariwal pitted Cruising at the deep end by accepting to run her next in the Bangalore Juvenile Million. She once again distinguished herself by ending as a bridesmaid to Aboline, and finishing ahead of some well-regarded juveniles like D'artagnan, Fleet Indian and Sprint Star in that race.

The handicapper was quick to penalize her heavily, and had little hesitation in pushing her up to Class II. To cut a long story short, Cruising was unable to win thereafter. She kept finishing close behind the winners, and continued to pick up further penalties. She had to wait a long while, before returning to the winner's enclosure on Thursday at Mysore. Carrying a light impost in the highest Class, Cruising (Glory Of Dancer – Fast Trick) produced a sparkling gallop in the straight to lift the FK Irani Memorial Gold Cup. It was a seven-furlong handicap for horses in class I. A few Bangalore-based horses like Cruising, The Spartan, Star Wave, Einstein and Flaming Lamborgini were pitted against half a dozen local runners.

The first four headed the betting boards, as all of them were equally fancied by the punters. The "open" nature of this event emerged from the fact that each one of them was available at 4's and over. The Spartan had the best form. This Sharat Kumar trainee was bidding to complete a fine hat-trick of victories within a span of three weeks. Star Wave and Einstein had steadily come down in handicap, and with the latter claiming an allowance, the two of them were advantageously placed at the scales.

The connections of Cruising had requisitioned the services of light-weight jockey Ashhad Asbar, who agreed to make the trip from Hyderabad to ride the bottom-weighted runner in this race. The speedy Ohiyesa darted to the front and showed the way to Einstein and Star Wave. Cruising and The Spartan were settled nicely in fourth and fifth, while the others followed at regular intervals. Flaming Lamborgini received a slight check in the first two furlongs, and this saw him dropping to the rear of the field.

The order remained more or less the same till they entered the straight. With Ohiyesa and Star Wave slowing down in front, we suddenly had a new leader. Apprentice Alam steered Einstein to the front and moved ahead of the others. Einstein led into the final furlong, before being caught by Cruising. The filly devoured ground through the middle and sailed away from the pack. Flaming Lamborgini rallied strongly along the rails to get the better of Einstein near the winning post. A listless Star Wave filled the rest of the frame. Cruising has scope to improve from her present mark, and now that she has resumed her winning ways, it may not be long before she scores again. The RWITC Trophy, a terms event for maiden three year-olds, was the added attraction in the day's card. Byramji's Don Diego was a hot order in this event. He had given a scare to Scionic in his only start during Bangalore Summer.

The fact that Scionic had gone on to win a Monsoon Classic at Malakpet, enhanced Don Diego's chances in this race. The half-money favourite was expected to romp away from his ordinary rivals. However, that did not happen. Don Diego put up a doleful show and ended a pathetic fourth in this race. He led briefly before being passed by Foswell and Elite Land. The two front-runners led till the distance post before they were overhauled by Endurance (Mischevious Music – Trillennium). In the hands of Md Shafiq, the Lokanath-trainee came with a long stretch run and won by a widening margin of over three lengths. This run of Don Diego must be forgotten, as the colt has immense potential and it may not be long before he scores his maiden triumph. Jockey S John has been having a successful Mysore campaign.

He currently leads in the jockey's championship, and it is normal to see him guiding the fortunes of some well-backed runners. John was declared to ride four public choices on Thursday. He started on a winning note by have an easy time astride Prithviraj's Rich Radiant (Epicentre – All Heart). Running in a mile race for horses in Class V, the three year-old sported a pair of wings and flew away from Hamsafar and Nano Blue.

Backed down to even-money, Rich Radiant was comfortably placed for most of the way. John had allowed her to follow a bunch of no-hopers till the bend, as he had chosen to ride her for eventual acceleration. He suddenly realized that the ones in front were slowing down. Not wanting to get into trouble, he swung outwards and switched lanes. Once the filly saw daylight, she was unstoppable. She lengthened her strides and ran away from a helpless bunch of horses. Vinod Shinde tried to reverse the result in the Steward's Room, but his objection lacked merit. Rich Radiant's accidental and minor interference to Hamsafar had made no difference to the result of this race. The very next race saw John riding another favourite.

Lokanath's Mr Ambassador received all round support to win this race. He was running over his pet distance of seven furlongs, and had been impressive in his morning trials. The speedy African Sky (Johannesburg - Wild Rezonution) shaped as his only danger, but the distance was a bit long for her. She had this habit of tearing to the front before stopping in the straight. Trainer Attaolahi decided to claim an allowance on African Sky and entrusted her to apprentice SK Das.

The youngster rushed her into a long lead and showed the way into the straight. Mr Ambassador was travelling nicely in second spot and was waiting to pounce on the leader. The six-length lead began to shorten with each passing moment. Mr Ambassador made up a major portion of the leeway, but to the dismay of his supporters, fell short by a long neck at the wire. Many of them blamed John for his "overconfidence" while guiding this horse.

The other two fancied runners entrusted to him were from the stables of Pradeep Annaiah. Spark Of Bronte and Spark Of Joy were overwhelming favourites in their respective events. Spark Of Bronte (Classic Tale –Donna Mia) was trying to defy a 22-point penalty that he had received for his previous victory. The free-striding favourite was taken to the front in this mile event, and made to set his own pace. John judged it well and kept him going till the end. Chouhan-ridden Always For You came menacingly close at the end, but the five year-old had to settle for the second spot. Cafe Coffee ran on to save place money for his connections.

The Pradeep Annaiah camp was shocked at the antics of Spark of Joy. This on-money favourite walked out of the starting gates, before coming to a complete halt. She refused to run, and for all practical purposes, took no part in this race. She had behaved similarly a couple of seasons ago, but had shown improvement in a few barrier trials. She had given all-round satisfaction by jumping smartly from the starting gates.

A lot of good money went down the drain with this favourite today. For the records, Secret Fury (Placerville – Mitzvah) came from the tail end of the field to nail Jedi Knight near the winning post. The most exciting race of the day saw trainer Lokanath completing his double for the afternoon. Apprentice Nausad Alam was declared to partner Soviet Melody (Brave Act – Soviet Song) in this race. The trainer was obviously confident of her chances as she became the medium of a big gamble. The presence of Scarlet Knight, La Clique and Rose Of Texas added to the competitive flavour of this event. Scarlet Knight charged out of the starting gates and set a good pace ahead of Rose Of Texas and La Clique.

Soviet Melody raced in mid-division, and her rider was apparently following instructions, as he seemed content to allow her to remain there. Rose Of Texas came alongside Scarlet Knight, and after a fairly long tussle, managed to get the better of him. Not many noticed the moves of Soviet Melody at about the same juncture. Nausad Alam produced her on the wide outside, and asked her to quicken. She responded gamely to move menacingly on the outer strip of the track, and managed to collar Rose Of Texas near the winning post.