The Mysore Winter Season took-off with a well filled card of eight events on Wednesday. The fact that a few acceptors had to be balloted out at the final stage, speaks volumes of the fact that the trainers at this centre are keen to run their wards on a regular basis. The Ansbach Cup, a seven-furlong race for horses in Class III, occupied the pride of place as the day's feature. The upper division looked like a straight fight between a couple of three year-olds called Ashkan and Lotus Pond. The much older Tantrik had run a pair of decent races in the recent past, and he looked like their main threat. Darashah's Ashkan was supported with confidence and sent to the post as an even-money favourite, while Lotus Pond was available at 4's. A late rush of money on Wise Words saw his odds come crashing down from 10's to 4's. An interesting race was in store for the punters. Gnaneshwar had no problem in taking the speedy Ashkan to the front, and dictate the pace to his seven opponents. Lotus Pond was cantering in second spot, while Wise Words and Tantrik followed in close order. The field was spread out in single file as they took the rising ground and turned for home. Ashkan tried to lengthen his strides at this stage and run away from the pack, but it became apparent that Lotus Pond was travelling the better of the two. Milan was yet to move a muscle on the filly as she came alongside the leader. A couple of taps thereafter saw her getting the better of Ashkan. Ridden hands and heels thereafter, Lotus Pond went away to score an emphatic victory. Tantrik was under immense pressure to take the third spot ahead of a lethargic Wise Words. The last named ran a pathetic race while taking a lot of money down the drain. The winner enabled trainer Monappa to open his account for the season. The lower division saw money-back favourite Theworldismine scoring a bloodless victory over a bunch of no-hopers led by Demanding and Super Sha. Jockey Appu had little to do except keep the favourite clear of all trouble. Theworldismine took a smart jump and tracked Demanding till the bend. He cruised past the leader and scored without a fuss. The margin of victory was a compliment to those that ran behind him. Trainer Pratap Kamath saddled this winner. He completed a double later in the day when Forgivenforget justified the short odds quoted against her. It was surprising to see punters backing this filly at half money. The three year-old was running for the second time in her career, carrying the top weight of 62.5 Kilos, sporting bandages and to top it all, was ridden by a very ordinary jockey called Ravi. Her supporters must have missed a couple of heartbeats in the early stages of the race. Forgivenforget was seen labouring in third last position as second favourite Regal Image led the runners into the straight. The leader began to drift out under pressure and left a huge gap on his inside. Ravi coaxed the favourite to take the shorter route and drove her under the stick to score in the final stages of this race. The winner can improve on this showing and can score again, provided she is entrusted to a more capable rider. A fine performance during the afternoon came from the trainer-jockey combination of Darashah and Gnaneshwar. They scored a hat-trick and started their quest for the season's professional honours in style. The pair of them has been wearing the crown in these smaller seasons at Mysore with regularity. Testarosa was the first of their three winners. The filly was a maiden till date and had been flattering to deceive. She had shown great promise by leading into the straight, but had disappointed by stopping thereafter. Gnaneshwar decided to change his tactics today. He held her back till well into the straight, and showed her daylight after that. The beautifully bred filly cantered away to an easy victory. Odds-on favourite Lucky Look was totally flat footed while finishing a poor second. The next race witnessed another smooth victory for Real Magic. The grey filly justified the short odds with ease. A couple of backhanders near the distance post were enough to keep her going ahead of Skyfleet and Stampede. Skyfleet was running after a long gap and this outing should benefit him a great deal. He should be followed in his next start. Stampede can win when he decides to run in his own age group. But their best was reserved for the end. The most exciting victory came in the form of another favourite called Lush Foliage. Running in a Class II sprint, Lush Foliage got knocked around at the start. Gnaneshwar was helpless as he found his mount stuck between a bunch of tired horses. He decided to bide his time and wait for an opening. Second favourite Eona had made all the running and seemed to be holding on to her slender advantage over Looking To Lead. A small gap appeared near the furlong marker. Lush Foliage was pulled out and asked for an effort. Gnaneshwar made free use of his whip, and the filly responded immediately. The way she devoured ground thereafter was a tribute to her trainer. She got up in the last two strides to nail Eona on the post. Looking To Lead ended a close third. The day ended with a pillar-to-post victory for Jedi Knight. This horse had seen much better company as a youngster and had steadily come down at the scales in recent months. He had obviously been sharpened for this race as he carried the public purse today. Apprentice Himanshu took a smart jump from the wide outside draw and pushed him into the lead. The horse became so keen that he tore away from the rest. His supporters became worried as they knew that it was difficult to sustain such an effort. However, there was no such problem as the lead was much too big for his opponents. Despite shortening his strides in the last furlong, Jedi Knight finished well clear of Kandiate and Victory Queen.