Perfect Mover proved too good in the 2000 metres Chief Minister’s Trophy, a terms race for four-year olds and over, which featured the races held on Friday. The Michael Eshwer trainee had no difficulty in staving off the challenge of favourite Forever Elegance. Powerthrust, who was running after a setback had kept him out of the track for some time, ran a fair race and could have stretched the winner with a more judicious ride from Chouhan. Perfect Mover, who appears to be a late-maturing type, had recorded a fine win over an identical trip in her last outing but she was not fancied strongly to win because there were horses with better credentials in the fray. Forever Elegance, winner of last year’s winter Derby, who had run a forward race in her last outing, was the one expected to pull it off. Powerthrust should have gone into the race as a favourite but the son of Placerville who was a noteworthy third in the Kingfisher Derby, had run a poor race in the Guineas at Hyderabad and came back sore. He was short on work but since he is expected to run in next week’s Derby, he was in the fray to check out whether he can bounce back after all the problems that have plagued him. Baffert assigned himself the job of setting the pace, followed by Assessed and Perfect Mover, while Powerthrust was in about fifth position while Forever Elegance graced the rear along with City Zip. The order more or less remained the same, with Powerthrust settled well approaching the gradient but jockey Chouhan made the mistake of improving his position on the steepest part of the track on the wide outside which hurt his chances as the four-year old gelding was short on work and though he came up with a good run to challenge the eventual winner, he packed up and ended up third, giving way for a late-finishing Forever Elegance to take second spot behind Perfect Mover, who took charge on turning for home and was not hard-pressed to retain the advantage. Trainer Michael Eshwer had a rich haul of three winners but the one most expected to win played truant. Green Bax, which had the measure of redoubtable horses like Bratz and Democraticus at Mysore, appeared too good for the field in the Tungabhadra Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 45. However, the son of Greensmith faltered, lugging in and not passing the front-running Indian Shining who recorded a repeat win. Eshwer had success in both the divisions of the A.P.Kothavala Memorial Cup, a race for juveniles. Favourite Celtic Princes bolted while being led to the starting gates and was withdrawn making the way clear for Chief’s Dream to have his say. The son of Greensmith did not disappoint, winning with ease from Autograph. Red Mustang, who was hanging in, took a fly jump when pulled out of the rails and the injury to his leg still seems to be worrying him. Nevertheless, he stretched out well in the final stages of the race. Balthazar won the lower division of the race in the manner of a good type of a horse. Balthazar bolted to the front at the start and stayed put without coming under pressure from the strongly supported Bold Blaze. The R.H.Shah Memorial Plate, run in two divisions, for horses rated 20 to 35, turned out to be an eventful one. Tina’s Triumph who had run a blinder of a race in his previous outing, won quite impressively despite being blocked for a clear run till the final stages of the race. In the lower division of the race, lesser fancied Global Gal held on to win at the expense of late finishing Exclaim and Hawaiian Sunrise, the strong market fancies. Jockey Suraj Narredu undoubtedly is a committed jockey who has endeared himself to race goers by his hunger for winning. But there have been some aberrations in his promising career when he has come in for critical scrutiny for his injudicious acts. He failed to maneuver a favorable position on Exclaim, traveled wide for no apparent reason, and then used the whip in excess of the prescribed limit to pulled up for the offense besides leaving large section of race goers unhappy by his lackluster effort. Earlier in the day, he had committed his third offense by using the whip in excess of the maximum of eight times on Rare Ivory and the one on Exclaim became his fourth which saw him pay a heavy price. He was suspended for two race days for the third offense and deprived the use of the whip for the entire winter season which stretches till the end of March in Bangalore. As a result, he is unlikely to get important rides in all the forthcoming classic races as well as during the Indian Turf Invitation Cup as he will be without the all important whip. Top jockeys have proved ineffective when deprived the use of the whip. One feels sorry for a young jockey like Suraj but then rules are meant to be followed and breaking the same brooks no tolerance. Trainer Sriram Komandur’s Aura was running after nearly a year but still the daughter of Tirol was the betting rage in the 1200 metres Splendid Role Plate, a race for horses rated 10 to 25. Aura had won her only outing last winter in the manner of a horse expected to reach the highest class and as such the long absence was not expected to hinder her path to victory. She sailed away for an effortless win by over a distance in the hands of jockey Srinath who thus had a quadruple for the day, his earlier wins coming on Balthazar, Forever Grande and Chief’s Dream. The strong support for Sensitive Prince ensured a good price for Forever Grande who bolted in by over seven lengths to help erstwhile film star Feroz Khan’s visit to the course after a long gap, a fruitful one. For the record, Sensitive Prince ran a dismal race. In the day’s other action, Jaggy Dhariwal’s Aurelian recorded a resolute win over Rare Ivory who was rather late on the scene.