There was class written all over Hesperus when he made his debut a winning one in the winter. His subsequent win in the Pratap Stud Million (Gr.3) at Mumbai was only an affirmation of that impression. Now three runs and two wins later Hesperus is the third horse after Holding Court and Mystical to cross the rating of 50. The extended trip of seven furlongs or the opposition in the highest class posed no problems for Hesperus as the talented son of Brave Hunter led the field from the start in the Patrons Cup on Thursday and won without being unduly extended. Polar Force and Romantic Fire were chasing a hopeless cause once Hesperus brought the field into the view, several lengths clear and his jockey Appu still not moving a muscle to get the horse to bounce away from the field. Hesperus went into the race as an on-money favourite, with Romantic Fire being next in demand. With the pace of the race being slow and nobody keen to hit the front, Appu decided to make his own running, with Polar Force racing in close attendance ahead of Romantic Fire. The order, however did not remain unchanged, as the well performed Attorney came up with a late run to snatch the runner up spot from Polar Force, pushing Romantic Fire to fourth. Now that the handicap exploitation is almost over, Hesperus can be ambitiously targeted in terms races. There was great deal of hype on Divine Lumiere who was considered a classic type despite a pathetic debut run. The well bred daughter of Divine Light was in hopeless chase of Aristotle in her debut, where the former had toyed with the opposition. Now running in the Dupont Plate (Div.I), Divine Lumiere was considered unbeatable and she went into the race as the shortest priced horse of the season. Seis Corona who had run second best on six occasions before losing her chances at the gate on the seventh occasion, had showed out in a mock race and she ran to that form, having the race in her control from the start. Divine Lumiere chased the front-runner but at no stage of the race was the front runner threatened. Dr.Vijay Mallya’s colors were also prominent in the lower division where Cedros, with one run under his belt, had the race in his grasp from the start, with Ardennes in hopeless pursuit. Smart N Unique won the A Raoof Sait Memorial Plate (Div.I) at nourishing odds. Estrella and Priceless Memories were the market fancies but there was inspired support for Smart N Unique as race time approached. In the event, Priceless Memories was baulked for an opening along the rails while Smart N Unique who powered his way on the wide outside managed to hang to the lead as Fort Knox came with a flourish at him. Jockey Rajesh who has lost his enthusiasm and zest for riding, did not position Fort Knox favourably in the early part of the race and as a result, the daughter of Glory of Dancer had too much leeway to cover and yet she managed to reduce it to just half a length. Rajesh was suspended for two race days for riding an ill-judged race. Padmanabhan who missed out on Fort Knox, however, had success in the lower division where Rafaga, running after a setback kept her out of action for a considerable period of time, bounced to top form, winning the race from the word `go’ at the expense of a late-finishing Oprah and Glorious Spirit. Considering the fact that Rafaga won the race when she was far from the ready, she should progress on the scales swiftly. The well bred daughter of Placerville is out of Southern Regent’s sister and her progress at Mysore can be followed profitably. Favourite Shaolin who was once rated as classic material, turned out to be a dud, finishing off the frame. Two incidents marred the day’s proceedings and it happened in both the divisions of Tokyo Plate. Maharani was strongly backed to win the upper division of the race but the starter dispatched the field even as jockey Prithviraj was trying to settle his horse with the help of a handler causing the jockey to fall soon after the jump out. Breeze Dancer made a profitable start to finish dash to win from Ikon Brown and Copper Sky. In the lower division of the race, Star of Treasure was backed to the exclusion of his rivals but the favourite reportedly suffered a stifle lock within 100 metres of the start and stopped galloping. One First was the beneficiary of the mishap for the favourite. In the day’s other action, Star Hopeful recorded an encore over a mile and half trip while Tina’s Triumph had his reward coming after a frustrating wait. Tina’s Triumph, who had lost by a whisker to Golden Rain, came through along the rails to get the measure of Step On the Gas and favourite On The Trail who once again disappointed.