Aravind Ganapathy trained Mandarin who had let down huge expectations last time out, made amends albeit at long odds, by winning the Urs Kar Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Tuesday`s Mysore races. Mandarin had lost last time out due to a questionable ride by the jockey but this time out, Trevor who was in the saddle, ensured that no such mistake happened, with an effective display of his undoubted talent.

The sparingly raced Goldberg had won all his three outings and was strongly backed to win. The continuous rains over the previous days had ensured that there was cut in the ground and under such circumstances, the experience of the horses was bound to play a major role in their performance. Against seasoned opposition, Goldberg was sorted out quite easily by the seasoned performers. To compound the problems, Goldberg went too fast in front from the wide outside draw and this had a bearing on the performance of the favourite. Goldberg slackened inside the final furlong and this enabled Mandarin who was shadowing the favourite to pounce on the front runner. Mandarin shot ahead but encountered an unexpected resistance from Topspot. Mandarin had to be driven out with all the resources at his command by Trevor to hold on to the lead. Topspot is no doubt a good horse but when he carries the weight of expectations he has invariably burst his blood vessels. Goldberg weakened to finish a disappointing third.

Narayan Gowda trained Helios had let down a few times as a fancied runner but towered over the rest in the 1400 metres www.racingpulse.in website trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. With Suraj Narredu who was back from an injury to his toe in the saddle, the bookmakers were miserly in quoting the odds on Helios. Suraj took Helios on a start to finish mission and the favourite did not find anyone coming anywhere near him as he checked in six lengths clear of Indian Brahmos who held off Able Master for the runner up berth. The lower division of the race saw one sided betting coming on Saffron Intense. At the gates, Aqua Blessing who looked a live threat to the favourite was declared a non-starter as the filly played up at the gates. The expectation that favourite Saffron Intense would have things easy failed to fructify as the public fancy could not take a striking position even as Alvarez was consolidating his hold on the race by enjoying a good lead in front. Alvareez skipped away in the final furlong to convert that advantage into a winning lead. Saffron Intense found foot late and could do better than finish a disappointing second ahead of last start winner Perfect King who with a more vigorous ride could have added excitement to the race.

Neil Darashah trained The Lieutenant hadn`t run for quite some time as he had bled in his last run. The long rest perhaps had helped the three year old who went to the post as a strong favourite to win the 1400 metres W T Craig-Jones Memorial Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 40 to 65. The Lieutenant proved too good for the opposition as Suraj had him dictate the pace from the start and won untroubled by a margin of three lengths over last start winner Blazing Touch and Sharp Witted. The Lieutenant should repeat as he is still to reach his handicap mark. The lower division saw a dismal performance from favourite Southern Surprise who was a considered a cinch. Like it invariably happens in the case of horses sporting the gold and brown colours which are known for their inconsistent performance especially when running as frim favourites, Southern Surprise ran a disappointing race, being beaten well before the race took a serious turn in the straight. The race was won by Gregory Sandhu trained Saktchi who held off gallantly the strong pressure applied by the well backed Humming Bird. Crown Emperor came from way off the pace to finish an eye-catching third. Since Crown Emperor has the habit of getting stranded at the gates quite often, it is difficult to keep this run as a guidance when the horse runs next time out as everything depends on the good start that the horse needs to get to be effective.

Srinivas trained Ace Force who had been a migrant from Mumbai was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1200 metres Lalithmahal Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. The favourite did show up prominently inside the final furlong but was floored by the finishing burst of lesser fancied Evalina who managed to get the nod in the waning strides of the race. There was flurry of money coming on Bucethalis close to race time but it turned out to be a false alarm as the eight year old was a well beaten third.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Powerscourt was making her debut in the 1200 metres Sanctity Cup, a race for maiden three year olds. A look at the horses parading in the paddock was enough to identify who could be the winning horse. Powerscourt showed out in the paddock parade and true to expectations, had no problem in steering clear of the rest for a comfortable win over Ramon and Skyfullofstars.