Trainer Arjun Mangalorkar carried on from where he had left off last race day, by scoring another fine treble at Bangalore on Thursday. After a spate of runner-up performances, the runners from his stable have started "firing", and it is nice to see the smile back on his face. But for a few narrow misses in recent weeks, Arjun may have been fighting for the trainers championship alongside Irfan Ghatala and Jaggi Dhariwal.

Tomsk, Optimus Prime and Work Force were his three winners today. While Optimus Prime and Work Force won as they liked, it was Tomsk who caught everybody's attention. The manner in which he carried the heavy impost and came from last to first, was quite spectacular. The winner of last year's Delhi Derby seemed to have regained his earlier form, as he beat a quality field of a dozen acceptors in The VT Velu Memorial Cup.

The day's feature was billed as an extremely tough contest. Most of the runners were tightly handicapped, and quite a few horses were being fancied by their respective camps. Apart from Tomsk, there was smart money riding on Red Renegade, Soberano and Lowndes Square. The confidence of the Padmanabhan camp could be gauged from the fact the trainer had entrusted this horse to a raw apprentice.

It was felt that the horse would carry him home. A couple of maidens from the stable had already won their races, and the confidence levels were fairly high. The betting on Red Renegade was so heavy, that he soon joined Tomsk at the top of the betting boards. Apprentice Pravez Pasha managed to take Red Renegade to the front and set a fair pace ahead of Einstein, Lowndes Square, Soberano and Magnanimity.

The others led by Flaming Lamborgini raced at regular intervals, while Tomsk graced the rear. John decided to keep him out of trouble and allowed him to travel wide for most of the way. Red Renegade led into the final furlong and was still a length clear of Soberano and Stone Of Destiny. Tomsk was produced on the wide outside, and this brave horse began to move forward. With those in front getting a bit tired, and Tomsk continuing his forward charge, there was a sudden change of scene.

Soberano had headed Red Renegade, and under the forceful riding of Suraj Narredu, the Irfan Ghatala-trainee was making a determined bid to reach the winning post. The arrival of Tomsk spoiled Soberano's party. The compact chestnut went away from Soberano, Stone of Destiny and Red Renegade.

After the presentation ceremonies of the day's feature, the Stewards of The Bangalore Turf Club were surrounded by a large group of people. It was learnt that members of The Karnataka Racehorse Owner's Association and Karnataka Trainer's Association had entered the paddock with a demand of an extra couple of day's racing at this centre.

Since a similar request last week had been turned down by the authorities, these associations had decided to force the issue. According to them, this was the best way to make the Club accede to their demands. The horses for the ninth race weren't allowed to enter the paddock and there was an immediate stalemate. The Stewards retreated to their offices, and after lengthy deliberations, they decided to terminate the rest of the day's programme.

They further announced, that the three races that were yet to be held, shall be added to Friday's race card. In other words, there would be a total of 14 races on Friday, with the first race commencing at 11 am. Such a long racing programme on a single day may become some sort of a world record. However, the actual conduct of racing on Friday isn't certain.

With both parties taking a hard stand, racing action on Governor's Cup day looks doubtful. The victories of Arjun's Optimus Prime and Work Force were equally popular. Both started as first favourites, and won like "good things". Optimus Prime was also partnered by John. He allowed the horse to settle comfortably behind Celestial Son and Lads Gladiator, and made his move only after entering the straight.

Despite a long absence from a race track, Optimus Prime ran like a scalded cat and tore away from the others. Lads Gladiator managed to keep his nose in front of a late finishing Classical Dancer and a tired Celestial Son. Work Force had occupied the board in all three starts this season. After realizing that this one paced horse wants more than a mile, Arjun allowed him tackle a longer trip today.

Christopher Alford made full use of Work Force's stamina by sending him to the front. The colt managed to stay the mile and a quarter quite comfortably. All those who tried to keep pace with him in the back-stretch, got tired in the straight. Top weighted Southern King ran on from the rear to take the second spot. A couple of maiden fillies from the Padmanabhan stable posted easy victories on Thursday.

Balmoral Castle started the day's proceedings by confirming her favouritism. She settled nicely in the early part of this seven furlong race, and was ridden for eventual acceleration. The manner in which she responded to Suraj's call was comforting for those who had backed her today. They remembered how she had flopped under similar circumstances earlier in the season.

Balmoral Castle bounded forward to score from Sunset Grill and Spark Of Knight. The trainer decided to campaign Con Artiste in open company. Being a non-winner, she came in at the bottom of the scales. The fact that she had beaten Irfan Ghatala's Montedoro on level terms in an earlier race, was ignored by the punters.

They refused to acknowledge Con Artiste's pull in weights today. They kept backing Montedoro till the race started. Suraj managed to take Montedoro to the front, but had no answers when challenged by the filly. She got stronger in the straight and won by a fairly big margin. Con Artiste gave jockey S Chinoy his first winner of the season.

Incidentally, Sun Dawn came flying at the end and pushed Montedoro into third position. Soon after Montedoro's defeat, Irfan and Suraj regrouped and struck with Brunetta. The leading trainer capitalized on her good recent form and was quick to add another point to his score card. She came through a narrow gap between Little Splendour and Corleone and sped away to keep a late finishing Spark Of Bronte at bay. Zanzara and Grand Topaz filled the rest of the frame. A Stewards Enquiry was ordered in this race. It pertained to a bit of jostling at the start.

After detailed examination, the Stewards allowed the result to remain unaltered. A rare event was witnessed at the Bangalore Turf Club on Thursday. It was perhaps for the first time that racegoers were witness to a race being ridden by maiden apprentices. All of them belonged to a group that was licenced a couple of weeks ago. Most of them were riding in an actual race for the first time in their careers, and claiming statutory allowances.

R Vaibhav was fortunate to get a horse that he had ridden into second place only five day's ago. Dhariwal declared him astride Summer Wine and the youngster managed to deliver the goods. He brought her with a smooth run on the inside of Different Opinion, and sauntered away from him. It maybe too early to read much into Vaibhav's performance, but it must be mentioned that he has a good seat and a capable pair of hands.