Warren Singh trained seasoned campaigner Shubankar gutsily held off the strong challenge from Imtiaz Khan trained Cyrenius to win the 1600 metres Dennis & Yvonne Jarvis Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Thursday`s Mysore races. Shubankar who was wining a race after more than 200 days, won the battle in his customary fashion, taking the charge from the word `go` and grimly staying put even as Cyrenius closed with a rush only to find the winning post coming a wee bit early.

In what was an open betting affair, King Louis who had bled in his last run at Bangalore was once again installed the favourite ahead of Shubankar and Cyrenius. Shubankar was an experienced horse having raced in this category for more than one year while King Louis and Cyrenius had moved up to this category only recently. Jockey Amyn Merchant took Shubankar to the front with jockey Vivek G settling Cyrenius in the second position with the others spaced out behind led by King Louis. Shubankar was under tremendous pressure to retain the lead but hung on sparing half a length at the finish to Cyrenius who despite a strong effort from the jockey fell short in the end. King Louis showed up in the final furlong with a flourish but failed to sustain the effort and weakened to finish third.

Sharat Kumar owned Iron Clad who had recorded back-to-back wins at Mysore under the care of Santosh Rao, maintained his winning form and completed a hat-trick with ease in the 1400 metres M S Suresh Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Iron Clad was heavily supported to win again even as the odds on the Bangalore challenger Mazal Tov shot up. After NRI plan led the field into the straight and went slightly wide, Sai Kumar who had Iron Clad in about the fifth position till the final bend, seized the opportunity along the rails and pushed his horse to take charge with a ground-saving effort. Iron Clad had enough speed to go storming clear and win the race with a measure of comfort from Guiding Force. Prime Abbess who could have posed a problem or two for the winner, drifted out alarmingly in the homestretch and ran the last part of the race on the sand track but saved place money by finishing third.

Sharat Kumar had luck smiling on him, this time as a trainer. The lesser fancied Osiris grabbed the lead inside the final furlong and survived a strong challenge from the heavily backed Tenali by the proverbial whisker to win the 1200 metres Regency Gold Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Jockey Naveen did everything right on the winner while Kiran Rai who rides a winner at long intervals was unable to extract that bit extra from the runner-up. The odds on the ante-post favourite Ooh La La drifted out in the betting ring and the tame third was in keeping with the market expectation. The lower division of the race was won by Satish Narredu trained Sheer Bliss who managed to stave off the strong challenge from Star Speck in the hands of apprentice jockey Siddaraju. Star Speck led all the way but was sorted out in the closing moments of the race by the eventual winner. Avicena who was in the betting also closed in strongly but ran out of ground.

Dominic trained Treasure Chest was so superior to the field that despite running into interference during the race, the progeny of Charmo overwhelmed the field with a strong finishing effort in the 1100 metres Squanderer Plate (Div ), a race for horses in the lowest category. Treasure Chest appeared to be a quality horse to the field that he was taking on which was also the reason why he was quoted at short odds for his success. Apprentice jockey Inayat did not panic when the horse in front of him, Dawn Rising was cutting an erratic course. Treasure Chest had the speed to shoot through for a comfortable win over a trip that appeared sharp for his style of running. Pette`s Choice held off the erratic Dawn Rising to get the runner-up berth. The lower division of the race went the way of long shot Jaguar from the tables of trainer G T Surender. Jaguar bolted to the front in the hands of raw apprentice Pavan and had a break of over eight lengths over the rest. Jaguar was unchallenged as he maintained a big lead right through. Despite drifting out and ending on the sand track in the closing stages of the race, Jaguar spared more than four lengths at the finish to the heavily backed Perfect Halo. Star Citizen was third. Favourite Sky Princess who was badly off from the gates, improved quickly but ran out of steam in the stretch.

Srinivas Babu trained Dallas brought off a big upset in the 1400 metres Talakadu Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. The eight-year-old mare Dallas who hadn`t seen the winning post for over 400 days produced a winning effort down the final furlong and won with great deal of ease from the battling duo of Break Away and Natural One. The favourite Coorg General made no show, finishing down the field.