Rakesh trained Castle King managed to scrape though in the Rajkumari Leelavathi Devi Memorial Cup, a terms race for three year olds, the feature event of Tuesday`s races held at Mysore. Castle King was lucky to keep the race in the Stewards room as the winner had taken runner up Fricka all the way from the rails to the edge of the grass track but the objection was surprisingly overruled. Jockey S John was in limelight booting home three winners, Bright Star, Social Climber and Win Prettybaby.

Spirituality was backed to the exclusion of others in the feature on her last start impressive win but the Alnasr Alwasheek progeny was unable to concede weight to others in the fray by virtue of his last win. Castle King assumed charge inside the final 400 meters with Fricka on his outside. Castle King drifted out under pressure and took Fricka almost to the sand track clearly affecting the latter`s progress. The Stipes did not look at the material difference that the interference made but instead stuck to their age old, oft-repeated questions like did the other horse bump you? Did you stop riding? These inane questions should not be put to jockeys. The evidence is on hand for the Stipes to consider and advice the Stewards on the basis of their experience. What the jockeys say is immaterial because in order to justify their actions, they will say what suits them. Ultimately the decision has to be based on the wisdom acquired over the years by the Stipes and not by the answers given by the contending jockeys.

In this instance, the horses had to progress sideways and the horse which caused the drift should have been penalized because it did make a difference of couple of lengths to the runner up. Surprisingly, Christopher was not allowed to put his case across in Kannada but instead was told to speak in English! This is blatantly unfair because the jockey should be allowed to speak in the language he is comfortable win if it can be understood in the local context. While Dashrath Singh was allowed to speak in Hindi, Christopher was not allowed to speak in Kannada which is the language of the state. Shockingly the objection was overruled while a similar objection the other day at Mumbai had been upheld. The favourite Spirituality did not give a good account of herself while finishing third.

Social Climber who had shown signs of striking early, managed to nose out Yankee Lane in the Bababudangiri Plate. Settled in fifth position, Social Climber made her move once into the straight and she assumed command inside the final furlong and held off the strong effort of Yankee Lane. Favourite Bucethalis who was lethargic at the start was never in with a chance at any stage of the race.

The mile long race for Cochin Plate saw the fight restricted to favourite Bright Star and Thriller who came in for inspired support. Bright Star took over early and was chased by Thriller all the way with the others spread out behind. Bright Star held on to win, the Pune import Thriller was a noteworthy second.

A successful coup was brought off on Color Me with G VIjay on board. Color Me who had finished a faraway third to Miss International last winter at Mysore was a medium of a big gamble and was backed to favouritism and she did not disappoint. The bottom weighted Brave Act filly Color Me was a handy second till the final 300 meters. Thereafter she surged ahead and though she drifted out under pressure, she managed to stave off the late rally of Time Secret. Huckleberry Finn who was kept off the pace found a dream opening along the rails and though he rallied well, he could only finish third.

The four kg allowance claimed by apprentice Janardhan Paswan tilted the scales in favour of Boston Ranger who got the better of Mystic Enchantress. While Awesome Fighter was handicapped by the penalty received for last win, Oblique found the company a bit tough to handle and went down without a fight.

Win Prettybaby started as a favourite but there was a flood of money on Sequana close to race time. In the event, Win Prettybaby who went in chase of the front running Sequana travelled the better to land the spoils.

Regents Park who had finished third to Spark Of Napoleon won the day`s opener with ease. Travelling well off the pace he was produced on the wide outside from where he devoured ground to overhaul the front runners to return a facile winner. In the current form he can be followed to profit even in the higher class.

Splash Of Beauty who found herself in front from the start had no serious threat coming from any of the runners and went on to win easily. Fancied Artisan missed the kick and drifted out under pressure in the straight to lose all his chances.