Multiple classic winner Alaindair who hadn`t won for 496 days due to loss of form and also being kept out of racing following a positive finding during testing in training at RWITC, bounced back to win the Gr 3 Chief Justice`s Cup, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. The die-hard supporters of Be Safe who had hoped for a winning performance were once again disappointed as the progeny of Holy Roman Emperor found Alaindair too hot to handle.

It was 377 days ago that Be Safe had won his last race in Bangalore in tremendous fashion. Since then he had been under a cloud and put up dismal performances. Relocated to Chennai and seen in action on the Indian Turf Invitation Cup in March, Be Safe had run a fair third despite long absence from competitive racing. Be Safe had been subjected to systematic workouts after joining trainer Ganapathy`s yard once again and had the benefit of a mock race where he had performed reasonably well. Though he was conceding weight to all his adversaries and had a tough task of overcoming all the inherent disadvantages, Be Safe was nevertheless made the firm favourite, with Alaindair available at nourishing odds of 8 to 1. Alaindair too had shown out in a mock race and interestingly this progeny of Multidimensional has never lost a race in Bangalore. The disconcerting news about Be Safe was the body weight as displayed on the TV Screen which showed an enormous difference from his last run. The body weight of Be Safe appeared to be nearly 40 kgs less than his winning weight. Quite often the weighing scale shows violent fluctuation but it was clear that Be Safe looked less imposing than before.

When the gates flung open, Heaven Is Here lost considerable ground at the start while Be Safe who was slightly lethargic, quickly made up ground to race in the midfield. The assigned pace maker Silver Chieftain set a fast pace followed by Saptajit, Sea Lord, Cameroon, Alaindair, Be Safe, Booker Jones, Let The Lion Roar, Toroloco, Scarborough Fair and Heaven Is Here who was tailed off last. Srinath on Alaindair made a significant move inside the final 800 metres with Be Safe hot on his trail. Alaindair quickly overhauled the front running Silver Chieftain on turning for home and smoothly went sailing clear. Pradeep Chouhan on Be Safe who was tracking Alaindair, too showed intent and the two erstwhile Indian winners broke away from the pack. Alaindair however proved immensely superior as he skipped away by storming clear and was hailed a winner long way from home as Be Safe failed to produce his patented burst of speed. Jockey Srinath who had been re-united with Alaindair on whom he had won the Indian Derby and the Invitation Cup, could ease up the horse well before the winning post. The six-year-old was at home on his familiar territory while Be Safe was unable to regain the spark of old. Booker Jones ran on to finish third ahead of Let The Lion Roar and Heaven Is Here. While Alaindair has regained the spark of old, Be Safe sadly has lost his will to win.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Quaker Ridge recorded an encore with a hard-fought win in the 1400 metres D M Shivaswamy Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 45 to 65. Quaker Ridge looked vulnerable as he was unable to overhaul last start winner New Prince who went at a scorching pace in front and refused to weaken despite the frenetic pace at which he raced. Quaker Ridge took a long while to quicken and just when he looked to be in danger, the persuasive efforts of John had the desired effect as the progeny of Multidimensional came home with a spirited effort. Quaker Ridge went past New Prince inside the final 100 metres and survived a scare from Spirit And Truth who finished full of running, only to find the winning post coming a bit too soon. New Prince stayed on to take the third place.

It was a hat-trick for Multidimensional as his another progeny, Star Nijinsky won the 1600 metres Paddiwick Plate, a race for maiden three year olds. Magistero who had run behind Star Nijinsky in third position last time out was the favourite though the former had better credentials vis-à-vis their last one to one effort. There was also significant support for Hall of Famer. Sweet Temptation took over the running from the start with Hall of Famer in second position ahead of Star Nijinsky, Magistero and the rest. Sweet Temptation refused to give up her foray in front and it took a strong effort on the part of Star Nijinsky to surge ahead. Hall of Famer was slightly hampered as Star Nijinsky came on her outside and jockey Sandesh had to pull her out. Hall of Famer reacted more violently than what the rider had anticipated as she veered out alarmingly and lost the chance of at least ending up second best. Sweet Temptation stayed on to beat Hall of Famer who was handicapped by the lack of a race run.

Racing in Bangalore this season has been pathetic. Favourites play truant and those who win are at too short a price to benefit the punters with most horses being mere participants with no serious intent to win.

Cherie Amour who had showed out in his last run was strongly backed to win the 1400 metres A M C Gowda Memorial Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Cherie Amour suffered an interference from Omber Blaze. Those who get the innermost draw are always in danger of being boxed out by those on the outside unless the jockey reacts swiftly and takes a forward position. However, Arshad Alam chose to sit and this is where he made the error, causing him to be elbowed out by Omber Glaze who rolled in. Somehow favourites have a habit of running into some trouble or the other. Second favourite Fantasy Queen enjoyed an undisputed lead and survived a late onslaught by Afore to land the spoils. Honour who was ridden in unusual restraint, had too much ground to cover on the front runners and her finishing effort could fetch her only the third place. The lower division of the race saw majority of the runners not showing the will to win as favourite Babushka managed to oblige at a short price. Long shot Open Page came up with late bid to finish second ahead of Goodwill Warrior who too was at fancy odds.

Padmanabhan trained In The Sunrise had run a fair third in her debut. Quoted at miserly odds, the four-year-old In The Sunrise lead the field from the start and had no problem in checking in well clear of Pull The Plug by a widening margin of five lengths. Southern Fantasy was third. More wins are in store for In The Sunrise who can be backed till she reaches her mark.

In the race for horses in the lowest category run over 1400 metres for the Ramkirpal Plate, lesser fancied Grenada scored a fluent win over Tic Tac Toe and Croziet. Reverberating who was well backed as indicated by the trend in the betting ring, was not sighted.

Suraj Narredu drove out last start winner Tarini to prevail in the 1200 metres Aboline Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Closer home, Tarini was strongly pressed by Island Pearl and favourite Roaring Thunder but the second favourite managed to produce that bit extra to save the day for her backers.