M Bobby trained Contributor came up with a late rally to edge past Wild Spell in the closing strides of the race to win the 1200 metres B A Nanaiah Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of races held at Mysore on Thursday. Contributor had found the winning post elusive for more than 550 days but benefitted from the good forward run of the last essay to beat another long shot Wild Spell. The heavily supported Perfect Justice got into rhythm late and ran on strongly but the favourite had conceded too much ground to have a say at the finish.

Apprentice jockey Koshi Kumar took Wild Spell on a start-to-finish mission. The long shot enjoyed an uncontested lead. By the final furlong, Wild Spell appeared to have the race in her grasp as she had a big break over Contributor who was the only nearest challenger. Under a strong ride promising jockey Vivek G, Contributor covered ground and managed to neck out the front-runner in the nick of time. Perfect Justice ran on without hope while finishing third.

Bobby had a double for the day as the well-performed seven-year-old Tarek who was racing on the back of an impressive win prevailed in a three-horse thriller in the 1600 metres M P Appaya Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Faraz Arshad trained Armstrong was backed to the exclusion of the rest to land the spoils ahead of Twilight Tornado while Tarek was at long odds. In the hands of jockey Srinath, Armstrong was on course but closer home was challenged strongly Twilight Tornado and Tarek who finished with a big rush. The three went past the post locked together and it was difficult to separate them without the help of photo finish camera. The camera identified Tarek as having nosed out Twilight Tornado to claim the top spot while favourite Armstrong was an identical distance behind the runner-up. This was the fifth win for Tarek from 32 outings.

Dominic trained Art Gallery recorded an impressive win in the 1200 metres H H Sri Chamaraja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Art Gallery had run third to In Thy Light in his debut run and many of the horses which finished behind had gone on to win their next outings. However, Art Gallery showed no improvement and he finished more than 15 lengths behind Aldiva in his last effort in July. The trackwork showed that Art Gallery was showing a lot of improvement. Inayat kept Art Gallery in about the third position as Star Concept set the pace followed by favourite Crosswater. Rounding the final turn, Art Gallery picked up steam and easily sped past the two horses in front even as Anthony Raj on Crosswater was getting busy. Art Gallery spurted clear to win with a great deal from Crosswater. King of Kesari ran on late to pinch the third spot from the long-time pacesetter Star Concept.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Norwegian Wood and Irfan Ghatala`s Pharazon was strongly backed to have a say in the 1800 metres Kasargod Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Norwegian Wood had recorded an impressive win over a mile at Bangalore while Pharazon was a late rallying second behind Burmese in his previous effort. Obviously, something was wrong with Norwegian Wood who veered out of a straight course in the homestretch and was not galloping on an even keel. Pharazon chased MyLife My Rules into the straight before assuming command in the final furlong to win a great deal of ease from Saigon. My Life My Rules was a faraway third, more than five lengths adrift of the runner-up. Norwegian Wood was a lost cause well before the race came to a boil.

Neil Devaney trained Top Dancer was unlucky to run against formidable opposition on each of the last three occasions where she had finished second best. Backed with more confidence to land the spoils in the 1400 metres Fair Wood Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65, Top Dancer easily made amends in the hands of Shreyas Singh. Top Dancer raced abreast with Winter Storm till the final turn before storming ahead and establishing a winning lead. Though the heavily supported Golden Time gave a strong chase, it went in vain as Top Dancer comfortably held off his pursuer by a shade over a length. Acaster was third.

Rakesh trained Meraki had gone down to Red Hills in her last outing and made amends with a runaway win in the 1200 metres Eclipse Plate (Div I), a race for horses in the lowest category. Jockey S John held Merak in restraint in about the fourth or fifth position before unleashing the lesser fancied runner. When asked for an effort in the stretch, Meraki came up with a powerful gallop to easily collar the front-runner Sparkling Night and spurt clear to win by a widening margin of seven lengths. Sultan Sword was third. The lower division of the race saw Santosh Rao trained Eco System coming home late but just in time to edge past the long-time leader Romantic Heart and Mystical Merlin to win the race at nourishing odds. There were two frivolous objections in the race by the jockeys of the third placed Mystical Merlin and Raptor, the first against the winner and the second against the third-placed horse which were both overruled in quick time by the Stewards.