The curtains came down for the Mysore Winter Races, with a packed card of nine races being run on the last day. The 17-day season was reduced to 14 as three days of racing were lost for different reasons. The Winter Season is mainly run for the Mysore-based horses and a total stake amount of Rs three crore and thirty five lakh was paid out for 136 races that were run during the period. S. Rakesh emerged as the leading trainer with 13 wins against his name, while R. Ravi with 9 wins was the leading jockey. P.C. Tejaswi-trained Queen Of Destiny (Balla Jidaal-Queen Of The World) travelled the best, to lift the Shimmering Gold Cup, the main event of the day’s races.

The second in demand behind Rising Queen, in the betting, Queen Of Destiny shot ahead on the extreme outside to score an impressive victory. Prowl King finished second while the favourite Rising Queen ended up a tame third. Bucethalis (Burden Of Proof-Ching Mai) was the most impressive winner of the day, winning the lower division of the Adelisa Plate. Very surprisingly this son of Burden Of Proof had an opening quote of 4 to 1 but the right money came and was smashed down to favouritism at 18 to 10.

Moving fast from outward draw, Bucethalis took charge in the first furlong of the 1,400 metres race and drew away on entering the straight to clock a smart timing, within a second of the course record. Having already been nominated to run in the Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Bucethalis will now be proceeding to Mumbai. Secret Pilgrim beat the rest to finish second. Dinesh Pujar’s Hitz (Conquering Hero-Natural Spell) lifted the higher division. Apprentice N. Rajesh took Hitz to the front in the last 100 metres beating Super Sha and Perfect Bond to the second and third places respectively. The favourite Rising Rainbow failed to impress and ended up fourth.

Rajesh had earlier in the day guided Vishal Yadav’s John Galt (Diffident-Watt A Lot) to victory, in the higher division of the Flashpoint Plate. Windsor Square, Panchakshari and Look Alike had got into a fight inside the final 200 metres when John Galt came up with a big run to overhaul the front-runners. Panchakshari finished second ahead of Telemacchus and Season’s Greetings while the early leader Windsor Square pulled up lame on left fore and wound up in fifth position. Another professional to score a double was jockey B. Sreekanth.

Before riding Queen Of Destiny in the main race he had pelted Alejandros (Tejano-Ace Venture) to victory in the opener, the Fist Of Iron Plate. Alejandros shot ahead at 100 metres and drew clear. Pokeman Master, Raging River and Whisper Valley finished in a cluster with a hairline separating them. Kar O Bar (Western Versa-Juarra) fought out with Teleprompter in the last 150 metres and scored a half-length victory in the Classic Sky Plate. Lovely Red was withdrawn on veterinary grounds before the race. C.D. Monnappa’s Super Speed (Tirol-Silent Tale) opened as the favourite but drifted out as Noble Sacrifice garnered most attention, ending up as the firm favourite. In the race, Super Speed set out on a start-to-finish mission and was never headed. Noble Sacrifice was a far-away second.

Ansonia (Greensmith-Alsadena) scored an upset win in the lower division of the Flashpoint Plate to give his trainer a chance to open his account on the last day. Royal View moved fast on the extreme outside to get the better of Proud Accolade and finish second. Sun Device (Black Cash-Sangam) travelled the best to emerge a winner in the Orient Dance Plate, the concluding race of the day. The win brought some cheer on trainer Ranjeet Shinde’s face, as he had missed a couple of good gambles over the last two days.