Darius Byramji trained La Donna bounced back to classic form when slamming the opposition in the 1400 metres Srikantadatta Narasimharaajawadiyar Memorial Million 2016, a terms race for three-year-olds, the feature event of Mysore races held on Friday. La Donna had not been seen on the race track after she lost the Gr 1 Fillies Championship Stakes at Bangalore in June in a tight finish, more due poor jockeyship and after that, she had suffered a setback in training. Now nursed back to prime fitness, La Donna won the race start to finish pulling up, narrowly missing the course record by a fraction.

La Donna was no doubt favoured by the terms of the race but there were doubts in the minds of the punters about her state of fitness which was the reason why the price quoted on her in the ring should be considered generous. Sandesh took La Donna to the front as the eight horses came under the starter`s flag and dictated a fast pace which had the rest gasping even by the final turn. La Donna won by a widening margin of five lengths over Mysore-based Kingoftheworld. Bold March struggled for speed and was even beaten to the third place by Escala who came up with a late bid. La Donna clocked a fast time of one minute 21.20 seconds. On the basis of this performance, she is bound to make things hot for the other prime contenders for the Mysore 1000 Guineas namely Sheryl and Ice Glacier.

Hidayat Khan trained Star Nijinsky who is another classic contender, was also an impressive winner of the 1600 metres Ranga Family Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Star Nijinsky was boxed for a clear run inside the final 350 metres between Secret Dimension and Proserpine and she was lucky not to have clipped the runner in front. T S Jodha on the favourite, forced his way resulting in Proserpine going wide. Star Nijinsky then bounced clear and won comfortably from Secret Dimension who was the medium of a gamble which failed to come off because the connections perhaps underestimated the talent of the favourite and took on the wrong horse, after waiting with the horse for so long. Proserpine ran on to finish third. Tronada who did all the front-running and held the lead till the final furlong weakened to finish fourth but should up better for this forward effort.

Amit Cady trained Kingston Town who had been running consistent races, finally got his turn in the1400 metres Star of Mysore Trophy, a race for horses rated 80 and above. Striking View who was strongly backed to win on the basis of her impressive second behind Hillsboro, put up a dismal effort, being little sluggish at the start, then moving up into a prominent positon, before fading out in the straight. Hillsboro who attempted start to finish tactics battled on resolutely in the straight but was done in by the finishing burst of Kingston Town who covered good ground in the final furlong to win with a measure of comfort. Kingston Town held off King Julien to get the third place.

The withdrawal of Possimpossible on veterinary grounds saw Atlantis being quoted as on money favourite, a status that he did not deserve. In the event, Atlantis was under pressure well before the final furlong and finished poorly in the 1100 metres Full Speed Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Bryant Park put up a speedy display in front and managed to keep the challenge of Color Me at bay to win in a timing close to course record timing. Anmol Hira was third. In the battle between two apprentices and also among two brothers, Lokanath trained Hidden Hero showed vast improvement when finishing start to finish, getting the better of favourite Cool Springs in the hands of apprentice R N Darshan who incidentally ended up with a memorable double. Cool Springs with K Raghu astride had measured Hidden Hero but the latter fought back and finally prevailed by half a length as Darshan proved to be better apprentice at this point of time.

Darshan was earlier in the day successful on four-year-old filly Daenerys who brought off the biggest upset of the day, winning the 1400 metres Talakadu Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Daenerys burst clear of the pack in the final furlong to win competently from late-finishing El Matador. Flying Prince attempted to win start to finish but struggled for speed to eventually finish third.

Scaramouche was stuck along the rails for a long time in the rails but once the eight-year-old got a clear run on the outside of front-running Ice Splendour in the final moments of the race, John was able to drive out the fancied runner to get the verdict close home by neck to claim the 1200 metres Regency Gold Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated20 to 45. Beautiful Effect was third while the well-backed Ephialities had all the chances but lacked the spirit to win. Madhu Babu was able to drive out favourite Ontime to a narrow win over Ice Brown in the lower division of the race. Ice Brown had the lead till the final stages of the race but the favourite managed to get stronger close home to clinch the verdict. Kir Royale was third.

John rode out Port Blair to win the 1400 metres Cauvery Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Society Music was poorly ridden by S G Prasad who failed to control the outward drift of the horse which cost him a possible winning chance. John who was tracking Society Music quickly changed course towards the inside and managed to beat the challenge of Gran Turismo who was rallying along the inside. Society Music managed to get the third place from the late-finishing Demanding Format.