Arjun Mangalorkar's sparingly raced Optimus Prime (Valid Concept-Actuate) made a successful debut in Class I, and romped home to a comprehensive victory in The S Rangarajan Memorial Trophy at the Bangalore races on Friday. Coming through a hampered passage, the big-made horse got stronger in the last two furlongs to account for his 11 rivals. While winning his first race as a juvenile by more than a street, Optimus Prime had shown promise of turning out to be a top-class horse. However, a spate of niggling problems ensured that he did not race as frequently as his connections wanted him to. Even on Friday, he almost got withdrawn at the starting gates. Suraj Narredu dismounted and asked the officials to have a close look at his trotting action. Optimus Prime was found to be sound and was allowed to enter the gates. What was destined to happen could not be stopped. This strong horse raised a fluent gallop and sauntered away for an easy victory. His main rivals, namely, Friendly Bond and Classic Charge performed poorly to finish off the frame.

Lady Duff, Soberano, The Spartan and Friendly Bond showed early speed and raced prominently till the bend. Classic Charge on the inner rails and Lads Gladiator by his side, led the chasing pack while Optimus Prime and Atlantus were seen improving from the rear. Barring Lady Duff, the other front-runners shot their bolt in the straight and faded away from the scene. She led briefly, but was soon passed by Optimus Prime on the wide outside. Under the strong urgings of Suraj Narredu, Optimus Prime strode away from a late-finishing Lads Gladiator and a tired Lady Duff. The last-named managed to save place money for her fans by keeping Atlantus at bay. The winner has further scope for improvement, and we may see him making progress from the present mark.

Suraj completed his double for the day by scoring an upset victory astride Irfan Ghatala's Lad Diva (Burden Of Proof-Istelle). Most of the fancied runners in this race had raced against each other only a fortnight ago. Based on all logical calculations, Arjun Mangalorkar's Habanero appeared to be the best of the lot. In his only career start that day, and that too in the hands of an inexperienced apprentice, Habanero had rallied from the rear to finish a fair third. Now that he was being ridden by Chris Hayes, there weren't many who wanted to look beyond this horse while selecting a wager. Back Among Friends received late support to emerge as the second choice of the punters. With Habanero refusing to raise a fluent gallop, and Back Among Friends running out of steam in the final furlong, it was a good opportunity for someone else to make a move. Suraj seized the initiative by bringing Lad Diva from the back and rushing past the leaders to register an exciting victory.

Jockey Mark Gallagher delighted his fans by scoring a quick hat-trick during the afternoon. In a long card of nine events, he won the second, third and fourth races with Smart Exotic, Matias and Sunny Express. In a rare coincidence, all these winners carried number "three" on their saddle cloths. Faraz Arshad's Smart Exotic (Itaquere Power-Run Woodee Run) had scored an unexpected victory in his previous start. For a horse who used to tear away in front, he was ridden differently on that day. Faraz decided to use the services of Gallagher and asked him to guide him similarly today. Smart Exotic raced behind Sky Marshal and Bon Giorno for a major portion of the trip, and was shown daylight only in the straight. He darted forward and opened up an unassailable lead in the final furlong. This helped him in keeping a late-rushing North Cape at bay. The runner-up showed that he too is ready to pick up a similar race in the near future.

Gallagher's win astride Matias (Inhabitant-Mizcarolyn) was a foregone conclusion. After numerous placed efforts in maidens company, Matias had run fourth in The Bangalore Oaks. She had finished ahead of quite a few fillies who were rated in the higher classes. She was facing a modest bunch of older horses in class IV, and was running over a suitable trip of nine furlongs. The 60/100 offered by the bookmakers looked extremely generous. Matias raced well within herself and gave Gallagher an armchair ride to victory. Royal Prodigy finished powerfully in the straight to end a good second.

The talented jockey reserved his best for Sunny Express (Emerald Cat-Aata Shant Raha). After having lost by a short head over six furlongs in his only career start, Sunny Express was re-appearing in this seven-furlong event. There were quite a few big names running in this race. Capote, Dancerella and African Queen had been knocking on the door while Mablshwar Memories was participating after a promising mock race. The last-named was a hot order, and this Padmanabhan-trainee received all-round support to start as a strong favourite in this race. Dancerella raced prominently till the bend, and after she increased her momentum in the straight, it appeared as though the race was over. Mablshwar Memories had got lost in the crowd and jockey David Allan was seen bouncing in his saddle. We suddenly noticed Sunny Express making his move on the wide outside, and moving menacingly towards the leader. Under a powerful ride from Gallagher, Sunny Express stunned Dancerella in the final furlong to complete a double for the Faraz Arshad stable. He produced an unbelievable turn of foot in the straight and showed that he will mature into a good middle-distance runner. African Queen plodded along to take the third spot.

The most impressive winner of the day turned out to be Prithviraj's Karisini (China Visit-Trois Etoiles). After winning a class IV handicap earlier in the season, the filly had run unplaced in the Oaks. She was reverting to handicap company, and the confidence of her connections was reflected on the betting boards. She was slammed down to even money at race time. Apprentice N Rajesh had an easy time astride this favourite. He steered clear of trouble and guided her safely across the wire. Royal Surprise and Never Say Goodbye were flat-out to retain their minor berths. Karisini is bound to pick up another long-distance race before the end of this season. Dhariwal-trained Airplay was expected to run well, but for the third time in succession, the colt was totally out of depth in this company.

The day ended with rank outsider Spark Of Isis (Juniper-Adam’s Delight) causing one of the biggest upsets of this season. This horse gave veteran trainer MB Mangalorkar his first winner of the season. There was huge betting on the Mahesh-trained True Impression in this race. Apart from the fact that the horse had run well in his last start, there was also a rumour that nothing else was really "serious" in this race. For those who had lost on the numerous failed favourites earlier in the day, this seemed like a good opportunity to recover their monies. However, that was not to be. Suraj tried his very best, but True Impression fell marginally shy at the wire. Jockey Christopher rode powerfully in the straight too keep Suraj and True Impression at bay. Spark Of Isis returned the fancy odds of 120/1 at the totalizators.