Padmanabhan trained Rubik swamped the opposition in the Kempe Gowda Cup (Div I), a race for horses rated 30 to 45 which was the highlight of races held on Friday. Rubik, who had lost his way after his run in the Golconda Derby last year, appeared to have put on good condition as he showed out in the paddock parade and justified the looks by leaving the field stranded inside the final 350 metres. The purposeful dash of Emilio ensured the Darashah ward the runner up spot ahead of favourite Torodoro. Jaggy Dhariwal’s Chant Royal benefited by the forward run he had the previous week by winning the lower division of the race, making a profitable start to finish dash. Alannah, who came through a difficult passage, was the unlucky loser of the race because by the time the five-year old mare got a clear passage after being pulled off the rails, Chant Royal had established a decisive lead though it was fast evaporating at the finish. The only indicator of Rubik’s possible success in the race was the good mock race he had recently because he had failed to impress in both his outings during the Summer Season last year. Torodoro who had been in the money with some consistent efforts was the favourite but Rubik had his share of supporters so much so that both ended up as joint favourites. Demanding had a runaway lead from the start, with Torodoro and Rubik racing in close attendance. Approaching the final bend, Rubik devoured ground and sailed past the front-runner to win as he pleased. Emilio denied Torodoro, the joy of grabbing the second slot. The lower division of the race appeared to be at the mercy of Chant Royal going by the market trend but the race itself did not appear to be so clear cut as more than three horses ran with reasonable credentials. Ruzzan who is riding with confidence after enjoying good success in recent times, took Chant Royal on a start to finish and had a good beak over the opposition in the final furlong, with his only realistic challenger being Red Mamma. But the scene changed dramatically as Ryan Marshall was able to extricate Alannah from the rails and the daughter of Pennine Ridge covered leeway on the front-runner significantly but the winning post came to the rescue of Chant Royal. Irfan Ghatala trained Space Craft was one of the few horses from the stable to justify public expectations. After going down narrowly to stablemate Red Mamma in his last essay, Space Craft improved position along the rails in the early part of the race, with a helpful stablemate Son of Fortune moving out to give way; the second favourite had the rails for support as he took the final bend and sailed away for a comfortable win over National Victory who failed in his mission to record an encore. Punters took a drubbing in both the divisions of the BARI Plate as Byramji trained horses bit the dust. In the upper division, Satish Narredu trained Pretty Queen bolted to the front and was never headed by any of the runners. Caramel, who was backed to the exclusion of her rivals, was no match for the front-runner. There was strong support for Kaliyug Raja but the son of Ajaad burst a blood vessel and was a poor third. Exclaim was the betting rage in the lower division of the race as the daughter of Major Impact had been subjected to some systematic workouts but she was never in the hunt. Indian Ocean who had his share of supporters, did all the front running before Refreshing breezed past the front-runner to record a smashing win at nourishing odds. Loknath’s Tug Boat and Maha Rani were strongly fancied to win though the volume of support on the former was really a revelation. Maha Rani led all the way except at the winning post where Tug Boat, sporting bandages, and feeling his legs under pressure, shifted course repeatedly but nevertheless gathered enough steam to neck out the front-runner. Maple Fondant, as is the case with jockey Chisty, was not ridden enterprisingly. Madhav Mangalorkar trained Perfectremembrance gulped down some good money while dishing out a pathetic performance in the Champion Jockey Trophy. Discarding the blinkers seemed to have a positive effect on Freaky Chakra who dashed to the front and then held on comfortably to win from Apollo Storm to bring off a big upset for the day. In the day’s other action, failed favourite Choreographer was lucky to survive a scare from first-timer Solar Crystal and won by a whisker. Solar Crystal flashed home with a big run but the lack of a run benefit and the fact that she was not fully tuned up, went against her. Next time out, she will surely smash the field.