A controversy in the last race marred a good day at the races.  In the final race the bookmakers and more surprisingly the tote operators and the sellers at the fixed-odds windows went about the business declaring that the Hellal Moses-trained Mandolin was withdrawn and no betting was accepted on the Moses ward. Mandolin in fact was participating in the concluding event, the upper division of the Psychic Strength Plate and shockingly most missed him out at the paddock parade and also when the Moses trainee trotted all the way to the starting gates. Mandolin then produced a sparkling gallop in the hands of apprentice jockey Sachin and romped home a comfortable winner, beating the public choice Malet Spring. 

The moment the result was announced, most local punters and the railbirds at Bengaluru, upset questioned how could the horse which was not declared to start in the event be allowed to compete. The stipes and stewards of the Mysore Race Club (MRC) clarified that they had announced that Gajabo Grande (8) was not declared to start on Friday and Mandolin (8) was a contestant in the last race on Thursday. It clearly was a mistake by the bookmakers, pointed out the officials of the club, but then the personnel at the tote windows too scratched out Mandolin (8) and accepted no bets on the horse, who emerged the winner. This led to a big protest, angry punters pelting stones and demanding that the race be declared null and void. The stipes and stewards following the escalating situation chose to conduct an enquiry and soon announced that all bets placed in the final race, be it with the bookmakers and at the tote windows would be refunded, but the result of the race would stand. The decision of the stewards satisfied the angry punters, but the bookies were not impressed. They questioned the wisdom of the decision makers pointing out that the mistake was from MRC and the decision to refund all bets costed them dear taking into account that an outsider had won the final event. They decided not to operate on Friday and stuck to their decision. 

It was a simple negligence which snowballed into a big contentious issue. Treating a runner (8) in the final event on Thursday as a non starter when actually it was a runner, Gajabo Grande (8) the next day which was withdrawn in the final race on Friday. The twin declaration on the same day led to the confusion and the man who caused this confusion should be reprimanded.

Now back to racing, the punters started on a winning note, the half-money favourite Mystic Dew from trainer Aravind Ganapathy's yard proving too good to her eight rivals in the opening event. The next event, the Haveri Plate was an open affair, Sheer Elegance, Higher Love, Dear Lady and the facile last start winner Truth In Wine heading the betting board. None of the fancied four obliged and much to the chagrin of the railbirds, rank outsider Pette's Choice from Vishal Yadav's yard in the hands of Ayaz Khan delivered a knock-out blow to the followers of form, edging out Dear Lady in a thrilling finish.

It's time, some capable stewards and stipes, who operate without fear or favour seriously look into the running pattern of the Krishna schooled Dufy. This horse has a habit of missing many lengths at the start when he is fancied most and as a result takes a lot of good money down the drain. His earlier trainer and jockey were sent on a long holiday when this happened once in a race in Bengaluru and now the horse with a different trainer has done it again. 

Strongly fancied in the lower division of the Psychic Strength Plate run over a sprint, the piping hot favourite lost more than five lengths at the start from which he never recovered, his pilot Shamaz Shareef too content to stay in the rear, making no effort to improve. The fact is that Dufy had lost the race at the start and if Dufy can't jump level from the gates even after 36 career starts he should not be allowed to compete. The Krishna ward again dug a big hole in the pockets of the punters apart from denting the image of the club.

Advantageously placed in at the scales, Unforgettable Star from Rajesh Narredu's yard provided leading pro Akshay Kumar an arm-chair ride to success in the Ranga Family Cup run over a mile. The winner on the strength of this performance is set to provide an encore.

Masato from the stables of John and Excellent Lass from Rajesh Narredu's yard topped the betting board in the feature event, the HH Sri Chamaraja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy. The former partnered by Rayan Ahmed cantered home nice and easy, while Excellent Lass failed to produce her best, finishing a tame third behind the local challenger Rise Again.

Tipped Off from the stables of James McKeown was fancied most in the Shimsha Plate run over a mile, most track reporters tipping him as the day's best betting proposition and the top fancy didn't disappoint the large following, powering home in the hands of Yash Narredu to shed his maiden status in style. Wanganui from the stables of Arjun Manglorkar followed the winner home. Wanganui has not improved enough to make a mark. And he will continue to struggle until he turns a new corner like Yarra Yarra has done to the delight of Arjun.