Prasad Raju trained Ballerina has this habit of always winning tight finishes and yet again, the daughter of Sanus Per Aquam managed to produce a late dash to nail long shot Amyra on the post to win the 1200 metres Brave Dancer Plate, a race for three-year-olds and over, the feature event of Friday`s Mysore races. Akshay Kumar who had come short on a few of his rides, managed to get this right as his strong riding got the desired result this time out.

Amyra stormed into the lead soon after turning for home and stormed ahead and opened up a useful lead going into the final furlong. Myra battled on under a vigorous ride by Mukesh Kumar. Closer to home, Myra was perceptibly slowing down and was desperately in need of the winning post. When Ballerina was set alight in the final furlong, she had considerable leeway to cover but the experienced campaigner devoured ground and got her head in front. The favourite Soloist was handily placed but did not quicken enough to make a mark and had to settle for the third spot.

In an earlier race, Akshay Kumar on Flaming Fame saw himself being pipped in the closing stride of the race of the 1200 metres Royal Tern Plate (Div II), a race for horses rated 20 to 45 by the late rallying rank outsider Star Racer who came home with a big run in the final furlong to get the nod by a whisker in the 1200 metres Royal Tern Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Akshay Kumar had Flaming Flame race a handy third as the speedy Gusty Note set a fast pace. Down the final furlong, Flaming Flame was slightly hampered for a clear run as Blazing Jupiter came up with a solid run to take charge even as Gusty Note was falling back. However, Flaming Fame managed to squeeze her way and managed to put her head in the dying moments of the race but her hopes were put paid by the Sreekant-trained Star Racer under Aneel who pinched the issue in the final stride of the race. Blazing Jupiter was a close third ahead of favourite Chark Ek Char. Favourite Baisa was under intense pressure from Garnet but pulled off that bit extra to storm clear in the final furlong to win the lower division of the race from the late-finishing Top In Class who found his momentum when the cause had been lost.

Srinivas Reddy trained True Marshal was a cut above the rest in the 1400 metres Nalagonda Cup (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. True Marshal had won his last outing quite impressively and had beaten Hoping Cloud who had earlier in the day had it easy in the lower division of the race. Akshay Kumar kept True Marshal in a handy position till turning for home before accelerating beyond the reach of the rest in the stretch to win as he pleased. Candy Girl held off Protocol and Unmatched to get the runner-up berth. Jasbir Singh trained Hoping Cloud came in for big support even as the odds-on favourite Hugh Capet drifted out in the lower division of the race. True to market expectations, Hoping Cloud improved quickly on entering the stretch and went storming clear by the final furlong. Favourite Hugh Capet ran on late to edge past Mr Perfect to get the second place. The one difference between the running of these two races was the way they were positioned in their last run which was in contrast to what transpired in this race.

Ravinder Singh trained Able Love brought off an upset against the run of expectations when fancied runners had ruled the roost. Able Love, in the hands of Nikhil, made good progress along the rails and managed to stave off the strong challenge of second favourite Briar Ridge by a whisker. Carlisle was in the hunt but did not find extra gear to make a difference to the outcome. Favourite Life`s Song was not spotted.

Short-priced favourite The Image was so superior to the field in the lower division of the race that she could overcome a serious check in the final 300 metres along the rails as the front-running Ambitious Star rolled in closing the gap and the favourite ended up brushing the rials and had to be pulled out which broke her stride. Further, she had to cover the leeway to get the better of Stag`s Leap in the dying moments of the race. Gaurav Singh was unrelenting in his efforts. The Image retrieved the lost ground with a powerful dash and managed to get the better of Stag`s Leap who had taken over the running in the final 100 metres from the front-running Ambitious Star to win by a neck.