Bharath Singh trained Agnostic who had twice missed the berth by a narrow margin, came good in the Gr 3 1400 metres H H Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy 2023, the feature event of the races held at Mysore on Thursday. In conditions which had a cut in the ground due to overnight rains, Agnostic prevailed over Shamrock and Evaldo in a fighting finish and had to win again in the Stewards room following an objection for interference by the runner-up.

Agnostic shifted out from racing close to the rails and was in danger of bumping Shamrock who was making his challenge on the outside. However, jockey Anthony Raj did well to prevent contact. Even Suraj Narredu on Shamrock shifted out to prevent clipping the front runner. In this process, the top-weighted Evaldo who was making his bid from behind had to be checked. Evaldo fell back to finish third two and three-fourths of a length in the third position.
There were two objections in the race, the one by Suraj Narredu who objected against Anthony Raj who rode the winner, for taking him out continuously in the final furlong, ruining his chances. Akshay Kumar objected against Suraj Narredu for coming in his path forcing him to check his horse which took away his winning opportunity. After deliberations, the Stewards decided to uphold the objection by Akshay Kumar against Suraj Narredu and overruled the one by the latter against Anthony Raj. Shamrock was relegated to the third position with Evaldo being promoted to the second spot.

The Stipes and Stewards always ask the jockey whether there was contact and whether he had stopped riding. The interference should be evaluated from the point of whether it made a material difference and if there are reasonable grounds to unseat the winner. Any experienced jockey will always take corrective action and will not let his horse bump because he may have to face adverse consequences and it may spell danger for both the horse and the jockey as well. While jockey Anthony Raj did shift out, the Stewards may be right in deciding that it made no material difference and allowed the result to stand. In the case of the objection by Akshay Kumar, Evaldo had shifted in and ran behind Shamrock. The interference was self-inflicted as Evaldo had changed course. The best decision under the circumstances would have been to allow the result to stand overruling both the objections. There should be greater clarity and it is imperative that the Stewards update the rules pertaining to objections so that there will be consistency in their decisions and the jockeys also know what to expect. The interferences in a race should be viewed seriously from the perspective of making racing safe for both the horse and the jockey.

Satish Narredu trained Peyo brought off a big upset in the Pune Plate, a race for horses rated 60 and above, Peyo had run about 15 lengths adrift of Last Wish at Bangalore and as such, he did not have the form to be considered to have any chance. The fact that jockey Salman Khan was astride Peyo was also indicative of the lack of enthusiasm for the chances of Peyo winning against the run of expectations. Fancied Dedicate led the field into the straight and weakened allowing Amreli to take charge. Amreli held the lead deep into the stretch but closer to home, a host of horses finished with a big rush. Peyo who was angled out for a clear run inside the final furlong, flew home and got past Win My Luv to land the spoils at big odds. In a cluster finish, Win My Luv nosed out Clever Hans and Shabelle to finish second.

Rakesh trained Anushtubha was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1100 metres Udhagamandalam Trophy, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Lesser fancied Victoriano hit the front from the wide outside draw from the word `go` and provided jockey Prashanth Dhebe with an easy win over the favourite Anushtubha who failed to pick speed to make a dent on the front-runner. Janeira finished strongly to take the third spot ahead of Blooming Lilly.

There was a rare dead heat in the J H Foley Memorial Trophy a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Favourite Irish Coffee was put under pressure by long shot Achook in the final furlong. The duo fought out the final stages of the race, going past the post locked together. The camera could not separate the two runners and a head-heat ensued. Imperius was third. Loch Lomond who had her share of support, lost ground at the start and did not raise fluent gallop despite being well positioned at the top of the straight.

Parvati Byramji trained River of Gold recorded an easy win over Burmese in the 1400-metre Somanathpur Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. River of Gold who led from the start drifted out from the straight course approaching the final furlong causing Suraj Narredu to change course on Burmese. River of Gold went on to win comfortably from Burmese, with Mystical Merkabah showing some spark to finish third. There was a futile objection by Suraj against Akshay Kumar for crossing his path which was overruled. The lower division of the race was won by Lokanath-trained Embosom who held on grimly to win the race from Mighty Swallow. The latter`s chances were ruined because the challenger failed to keep a straight course and drifted almost to the edge of the race track which made a critical difference to the outcome. Embosom won by a long neck. Sensational Title nosed out Raaz to save place money.

Ashwin Rao trained Red Hills came in for big support to win the 1100 metres Virija Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 0 to 25. Red Hills managed to justify thanks to the presence of jockey John in the saddle. The horse drifted out from a straight course which could have resulted in her defeat but John drove out without panicking, getting the measure of front-running Red Hills in the dying moments of the race. Meraki was ridden by raw apprentice Koshi Kumar. Mystical Merlin was third. Girinath trained War Song who came in for one-sided support in the betting ring, managed to oblige expectations, recording her maiden win in the 12th outing, getting the better of D Golden Cup in the closing stride of the race to claim the lower division of the race. Top Rank was third.