Outstation challenger The Sovereign Orb(Excellent Art-First And Only One) from the stable of Suleiman Attaollahi lifted the Bangalore Turf Club Trophy at RCTC on Thursday.Available at nourishing odds of 5/2, the dark bay was flawlessly ridden to victory by Hindu Singh in a three-way blanket finish involving Awesome One and Dandi Satyagraha. Barely six weeks back the same horse had lifted the Bangalore Turf Club Trophy at Mysore in a close contest with Tactical Command at a rating of 93. On this occasion, he defied the 4kg penalty to win again. Kudos to his mentor for a perfect piece of speculation, though it must be mentioned that had Dandi Satyagraha been handled a little more proficiently, the colt may well have turned the tables on the winner. A costly change of rider (as leading pro Akshay Kumar was unavailable) may well have contributed to his downfall. While the winner was positioned superbly from the word ‘go’ and collared pace-setter Monfortino easily in the straight, Dandi Satyagraha took the bend ten wide after languishing in the rear and was the fastest moving runner at the wire. Jockey Trevor on the favourite Anastasia did all he could but the filly may have reached the end of her tether.

The Trevor -Vijay combo however notched up a popular double with Atlantica (18/10) and Raisina Star (60/100). The former, a maiden starter in the Alaskan Handicap, picked up a late gallop along the rails to peg back Salvador who was shaping like a winner. The Vijay Singh-trained winning filly by Phoenix Tower out of Riyasat has more races in store for her, possibly over extended trips. Trevor brought the curtain down with an armchair ride on Raisina Star (Top Class-Malakeye Ziba) who was penalised 7kg for this effortless victory in the Aristotle Handicap and is destined to reach the highest class as a sprinter.

The afternoon commenced on a cheerful note for punters as the well-backed totalisator favourite Adornica (Sedgefield-Another Star) moved with telling strides in the straight to put paid to the pretensions of Exotique who was travelling pretty well till the distance post.  Thee ante-post favourite D Yourplayyourway troubled both the commentator and his rider Imran Chisty who did all he could to coax a late gallop out of him and finish a notable second. Chisty is a hard finisher and he showed his prowess in the mile race for the Scarlet Prince Handicap while atop top-weight Magneto (Kingda Ka-Solar Midnight). He urged his mount from mid-division to sail past Odin who had taken over the running in the straight. Odin does seem a lazy type of colt and ace jockey Trevor had to really work on him to collar the pace-maker. Another disappointment was Randolph who was an unimpressive fourth.

The longest race of the day – The Acrider Handicap run over 2000 metres – had only four in the fray but was a tricky one to solve. Last year Derby winner Eastwood was the rage in the tote but he finished a hapless last. Last Saturday’s winner Mandeville tried to make every post a winning one but came unstuck in the final furlong as Arti Doctor-trained Third Avenue (Ampere-Avant Garde) produced an encore in the hands of apprentice Tejeshwar who rode a powerful finish on the colt after he looked beaten at the top of the straight as Mandeville was making a beeline for the winning post.