Before a thunder shower hit the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC), the Lokanath schooled River Deep completed a hat-trick of wins, coming up tops in the Dr.KM Srinivasa Gowda Memorial Cup. The stewards after a hour-long wait and watch approach rightly decided to call it day after deciding to include the last two events in the seven-event framed for Sunday.

In line for a hat-trick, the in-form River Deep piloted by Ashad Asbar produced a sparkling gallop in the final furlong to edge out the second in demand at the betting ring Flight Of Fancy, a `neck' separating the two at the wire. While Asbar in a never-say-die effort packed punch on the Lokanath ward to gain the verdict at the shadow of the winning post, Vivek astride the speedy Darius Byramji ward surprisingly didn't use his stick even when he came under pressure in the final 100 metres and that provided Asbar an opportunity and he grabbed the chance with both hands, strongly driving home River Deep to snatch the verdict at end. Lesser fancied Fortis from Sulaiman Attaollahi's yard partnered by leading pro Trevor Patel, back after recovering from a shoulder injury, was seen finishing on fastest at end and it will pay to support this Sulaiman trainee over an extended trip. A facile last start winner Kabali from trainer Gregory Sandhu's yard topped the betting board in what was an open race, but he failed to reproduce his eye-catching winning effort, finishing down the field after tracking Flight Of Fancy for most part of the sprint exercise. 

Earlier, Satish Narredu and Suraj combined effectively to record a profitable double through Shrishti and Arc Of Life. The former competing in the opener, the Doncaster Plate run over a mile proved too good for her five rivals, assuming command at the distance post before romping home in emphatic fashion. Aprameya on the strength of his satisfactory second behind the goodtype of youngster Azaadi, garnered the maximum support, but he again found one better and hopefully it will prove to be third time lucky for this Neelesh trainee. 

Next guiding the fortunes of the second in demand at the betting ring, Arc Of Life, Suraj needed to stretch every sinew to snuff out the challenge of the Sulaiman schooled Burevestnik, who in his attempt to make every post a winning one lacked the gas in the tank to hold onto the advantage gained and had to settle for the runner-up berth ahead of the Arjun Manglorkar trainee Savanna Storm. Burevestnik has so far made five attempts to earn his maiden victory and it is clear he will earn his winning bracket only if he gets a chance to race in a mediocre set. The James McKeown-trained Solana making her debut was fancied sweetly and quietly by the insiders and right connections, backed down from (7/2) to (9/4), but the powerfully built filly, who looked good at the parade ring struggled to keep pace in this seven furlongs trip and failed to even save money in place. 

Estefania was another from Sandhu's yard, who was fancied to come good, but failed in her mission to justify the confidence of her supporters, finishing a tame third after failing losing a length or two at the gates. The well-backed favourite on this day would not have beaten the well fancied Mystical Queen from Azhar Ali's yard, who produced a winning gallop in the hands of five-kilo claimer Asirvatham, approaching the distance post to zip past Hold Your Breath and charge home a convincing winner.