Dominic trained Rafa scraped home in the 1400 metres Smt Maliniraje Prasad Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Friday`s Mysore races. The better riding skill of T S Jodha on Rafa made a critical difference as apprentice jockey Chetan Gowda failed to add punch to the finish on Star of Thea who went down by a neck.

Star of Thea had more supporters than Rafa who was facing a modest opposition. The only question mark about Rafa was the fact that he hadn`t won for 792 days and whether he would be able to strike winning form. Mysore regular racing has been a haven for all these horses to earn their corn bill. So, it proved with Rafa who fought out a Tenacious battle with Star of Thea all the way in the final furlong before managing to put his neck in front. Sea Lagoon who did all the front-running weakened in the final furlong but nevertheless finished a creditable third.

Dheeraj trained Super Success was another to end the long wait of 874 days to break the winless sequence. Super Success produced a late dash in the hands of jockey John to storm ahead of Arak in the closing strides of the race. Attorney General came in for sustained betting to break the long wait of 873 days but after doing all the front-running, had no legs to carry the lead in the final furlong and weakened to finish a tame third. For the record, runner-up Arak too hadn`t won for 492 days.

Pradeep Annaiah trained Velocidad finally broke the jinx and recorded a comfortable win after a long wait of 447 days in the 2400 metres Justice P Medappa Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Velocidad`s victory was felicitated by the fact that he was presented with a real mediocre field to tackle and the progeny of Excellent Art ended the frustrating wait of the connections for an elusive win.

Imitation Game did the pacesetting followed by Order Order, Don`t Trust Any One, Cavarozzi and Velocidad. Approaching the 800 metres marker, Order Order took over the running even as Imitation Game faded out with those behind getting busy. Don`t Trust Any One was the first to call it quits with favourite Velocidad making swift progress and overhauling the front-runner inside the final furlong. Velocidad stretched away to win by a widening margin of four lengths in the hands of jockeys Y S Srinath. Order Order grimly held on to keep the second position from Cavarozzi who rallied strongly but failed to get the runner-up berth by a whisker.

Padmanabhan trained Kerazano cantered home in the 1400 metres Margrove Estate Trophy (Div I), a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Backed to the exclusion of the rest to maintain his winning ways, jockey John had Kerazano relaxed in about the fifth position as Ewandor did the pacesetting. In the stretch, Star Tracker led briefly before Kerazano breezed past the fancied runner to win pulling up by a widening margin of five lengths. Piper Regina ran on to take the third position.

While the odds on Azeemki Princess went up close to race time, the one to receive noticeable support was Reverberating in the 1400 metres Meerut Plate (Div I), a race for horses in the lowest category. Azeemki Princess led in earnest with Reverberating in the chase while the rest were spaced out several lengths behind. Azeemki Princess led deep into the straight but inside the shadow of the post, Shobhan Babu on Reverberating managed to get the better of the front-runner to land a good touch. Star Binder who was kept far too behind rallied late to occupy the third position. Star Binder reportedly came back lame. Lesser fancied Fantastic App pulled it off against horses which left themselves to do too much in the final furlong in the lower division of the Meerut Plate. After Desert Guilt led deep into the straight, Fantastic App took over the running in the final furlong and held off the late flourish of Barog and Ash Wonder. The latter was sluggish at the start despite which she covered enormous ground in the stretch and missed the runner-up berth by a whisker. Desert Gilt weakened to finish fourth.

Vishal Yadav trained Dare The Don had come down a lot in the 372 days that he had found the winning post elusive. Backed strongly to have a decisive say in the 1100 metres Lalithmahal Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45, Dare The Don led all the way and recorded the eighth win of his career in his 72nd outing. Spiritual Queen ran on from way behind to take the second spot ahead of Unimaginable.

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Fantastic App (A R Pradeep up) winner of the Meerut Plate (Div-II)

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Reverberating (Shobhan Babu up) winner of the Meerut Plate (Div-I)

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Kerazano (S John up) winner of the Margrove Estate Trophy (Div-I)

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Velocidad (Y S Srinath up) winner of the Justice P.Medapa Memorial Trophy

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Rafa (T S Jodha up) winner of the Smt.Maliniraje Prasad Memorial Trophy

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Super Success (S John up) winner of the Margrove Estate Trophy (Div-II)

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Dare The Don (Santosh Kumar up) winner of the Lalithamahal Plate

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