The H H Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club Gold Trophy was the solitary cup race on offer in the seven event card framed for Thursday's racing at Mysore. It was a sprint event for horses in the lowest class with 12 contenders aspiring to lift this nice-looking trophy. The field was fairly well-matched, and this was reflected in the bookmakers ring. The entire field was quoted at 4's and over. Artic Princess from Darashah's yard had run a good second in her previous start, and the presence of the in-form jockey Gnaneshwar in the saddle made her a marginal favourite ahead of the rest. Monappa had recently acquired Opera Princess from Bangalore and shifted her to Mysore. He had removed all the extra equipment used by her earlier trainer and she had shown a marked improvement in her morning trials. The connections of Opera Princess were pretty confident of her chances. The race started with a mild skirmish as four or five speedy horses tried to jostle each other and hit the front. While Khoka, Dons Delight and Artic Princess got into good positions, it was Opera Princess who got squeezed out because of her innermost draw. She was settled back in fifth as the front-runners entered the straight. Gnaneshwar's forceful riding saw Artic Princess hit the front and she seemed to be travelling better than the rest, when Vijay Kumar produced Opera Princess on her outside. The two of them were involved in a brief tussle before Opera Princess got stronger and sailed away for an emphatic victory. This was a maiden win for this well-bred five-year old filly. Analika got the better of Dons Delight to save place money. Trainer Pradeep Annaiah had two very strong contenders in the day's card. Golden Flowers and Youreasweetheart were odds-on choices to win their respective races and were touted as certainties in the race card. Both these horses bit the dust and took a lot of money down the drain. While Golden Flowers was beaten fair and square by Exceptional, it was Youreasweetheart who was a victim of extreme circumstances. This 6-year old mare went badly lame during the running of the race, and because she was a firm favourite, jockey P S Chouhan continued to ride her till the very end. It was sad to see her limping back into the unsaddling enclosure. Trainers Vishal Yadav and Rakesh were the two trainers who distinguished themselves by saddling a couple of winners each in the afternoon. The two brothers have acquired fairly formidable strings after the arrival of some well-performed horses from Hyderabad. Vishal Yadav scored with the well-backed duo of Final Frontier and Exceptional. The former was raced over a staying trip and had no difficulty in getting the better of Berkley Square and Time is Precious. Ravinder Singh was able to hold him back till the final stages of the race before he swooped on the front-runners and sped away from them. His other runner Exceptional had to be hard-ridden to get the better of Golden Flowers. The latter found one better for the second successive time and proved to be a costly failure. Front-running Worth A Diamond held on to the third spot. Rakesh pitted the well performed 3-year old filly Eona in open class for the first time in her career. The handicapper thought highly of this filly and rated her in class III. The punters backed her down to odd-on favouritism and were pleased to see her hit the front from the extreme outside draw. Eona was able to convert this race into a procession. Valiant Romeo was in close attendance for most of the way and had to be content with the second spot. Thunder On was a faraway third. The trainer must be extremely proud of his charge Mr Majestic who won the fourth race for his master in his last five starts. With apprentice Madhu Babu claiming the statutory allowance, this front running gelding made all the running and nosed out the fast-finishing Red Key Point. The favourite Youreasweetheart, as reported earlier, went lame and finished in the ruck. Lyra was an impressive third. Darashah kept his tally moving by saddling the winner of the opening race in the day’s card. New Edge was an outstanding runner in this race and was available at very cramped odds. Gnaneshwar took him on a start-to-finish mission and had to ride him vigorously to hold the challenge from Swiss Queen. The latter is a useful type and should be gracing the winners’ enclosure in her next start. Fit For Fray was seen to be drifting out under pressure, in spite of which she was able to retain the third place. The day’s proceedings were concluded with an emphatic victory for the Ranjeet-trained Tantrik. This recent import from Western India was a firm favourite, and was too speedy for the rest of the runners. Appu took him to the front and was seen riding him hands and heels as he lengthened his strides ahead of Satin Slipper and Show N Tell. Second favourite Irish Whispers seems to have lost his zest for racing and should be left alone for a while. Tantrik seems to be in tremendous form and should repeat in his next outing.