Top saddle artiste Antony Raj is flying high and leading trainer Arjun Manglorkar too is striking it rich. The winning combo after recording a good double through Never Give In and Disciple at Guindy on Saturday maintained their winning streak on Thursday at Mysuru, Arjun leading in Estefania, Crosswater and Perfect Attitude, all partnered by Antony, who is in red hot form. At Guindy too he recorded a grand treble, booting home the lesser fancied Blue Picasso from Darius Byramji's yard after packing punch on the two Arjun winners. 

The fact that Estefania entered the winners' circle, her second victory from 25 starts only confirms that the horses at Mysuru are readily producing their best the moment Antony gets a leg-up. Antony to his credit has booted home 11 winners in the five meetings so far this season and the darling of the racing buffs, it is needless to mention will add many more, taking into account that he has made winning a habit this season at the Royal City. 

The highly consistent Flamingo Dream from Inayathullah's yard, who gained the runner-up berth four times from his six starts in the Bangalore summer season opened the favourite in the Eclipse Plate run over a sprint, but surprisingly the price kept going up indicating that all was not well in the Inayathullah camp. Soon money came pouring in on the Monnappa schooled Pearl Of Mysore and most punters quickly jumped into the boat of the new favourite. But what they considered a switch in time also failed to gain the desired result, Pearl Of Mysore withdrawn at the gates. In this scenario the lesser fancied Estefania put her best stride ahead and in the hands of Antony posted her second victory after a series of below par efforts. NRI Millennium strongly fancied in place by the Sajid Qureshi camp did well to follow the winner home ahead of Gismo, while Flamingo Dream raced in patches and eventually finished of the frame.

On the strength of his impressive winning effort, edging out Don Carlos in a pulse-pounding finish in her last start over an identical distance, Crosswater should have gained the top billing in the BA Nanaiah Memorial Trophy run over a distance of seven furlongs, but the followers of form chose to go by the opinion of most old hats in the game, who fancied the Kishan Thomas-trained Sekhmet to come up trumps on the line that the public choice had beaten Crosswater without unduly extending herself in one of her starts in the winter season. But that didn't happen simply because Sekhmet partnered by Antony lost a couple of lengths at the start from which she never recovered and at the end only managed to finish a disappointing fourth. Crosswater, who was offered at a nourishing price (9/2) despite the fact that this Arjun trainee is on top of her game, powered home in the hands of apprentice jockey Aleemuddin, to the delight of her supporters, who didn't expect to get the big returns on their investments after the mare had beaten Don Carlos in her last essay. Vandhiyathevan finished second ahead of the topweighted Heroism who appears in good nick and is one for the notebook.

In line for a treble, Arjun and Antony knew that the upper division of the Kasargod Plate run over a distance of seven furlongs would prove to be a walk in the park for the public rage Perfect Attitude. Well the two pros were right, the short-priced favourite making every post a winning one without really breaking sweat. Bellavita from Purshottam's yard piloted by Trevor Patel was fancied strongly to upset the applecart of the half-money favourite, backed down from (5/1) to (11/4), but the challenger found the winner too hot to handle and had to rest content with the runner-up berth. 

The lower division of the event saw another short-priced favourite come out on top, Pledge from Darius Byramji's yard shedding her maiden status in style. The (35/100) winner a furlong from home looked in trouble, Elegant Time in the hands of apprentice jockey Faiz gaining control, but the moment Trevor reminded her of the task on hand, Pledge quickly changed gears and put the issue beyond doubt in the final 100 metres. Carter finished third ahead of Sira, while Cascais enjoyed the easy exercise and will prove to be a different proposition with this run under her belt.

The on-money favourite Aashirvad proved too good for her five rivals in the Dr MAM Ramaswamy Trophy, the plum event run over a mile. Faiz astride the facile winner tracked Chotipari, second in demand at the betting ring, for most part of the mile long trip before he let Aashirvad go at the top of the straight and the public choice stormed  up to assume command and then quickly put the race to bed a long way from home. Chotipari did well to hang in and claim the second spot ahead of Magic Circle.

In the opening event, the Fleet Indian Plate run over a sprint, Theia from the stables of Jaishankar Pillay and Natural Look from the stables of Mansoor Khan garnered equal support, both camps strongly fancying their ward to win the opener. And in the end it was Theia who reigned supreme edging out Natural Look in a close contest. The fact that Baandal astride Theia performed better than Ankit Pal guiding the fortunes of Natural Look proved decisive at the end. Always For You finished a creditable third ahead of Adena, who lacked the gas to make a race of it in the final furlong after travelling in close attendance of the first two for most part of the first five furlongs.

Jaishankar struck again through the 10 to one long shot Sir Calculus in the concluding event, the Fair Wood Plate. The winner piloted in determined fashion by the promising young apprentice Abishek Mathre pegged back the belated effort of the favourite Mystic Divine partnered by Faiz. The Aditya schooled Sound Of Canon's, a medium of a big gamble and last start winner Cloudy Hills from the stables of Bobby too had their fair share of followers. The former briefly headed the field in the final furlong, before Abishek cracked the whip on Sir Calculus and the Jaishankar ward responding gamely streaked ahead and prevailed in a cluster finish.