Reigning champion horse of the country, Desert God maintained his winning spree with a comfortable win over Booker Jones in the 1600 metres Krishnaraja Wadiyar Cup, a terms race for four year olds and over, the feature event of Sunday`s Bangalore races. Desert God who was giving weight to all the opponents, also overcame the sharpness of the trip and made light of the fact that he was far from his peak fitness. The principal target for Desert God is obviously the Maharaja`s Cup and the Bangalore St Leger. Desert God cut a smart time of one minute 36.22 seconds.

Desert God was quoted at cramped odds as he had imposing record to back his credentials. Booker Jones who had a good lung opener and Azzurro were the others who had their share of supporters. Starlet did the job of pace-setting along with Mickey Mouse with Booker Jones in a handy third position while Desert God was eased in about the fifth or sixth position. Sandesh gradually improved places on Desert God midway through the race was in a striking position at the top of the straight to take on his rivals. Book Jones shook off the pace setters and stormed ahead. Booker Jones put up a stiff fight but it was clear at Desert God would get him anytime he wished. Desert God overhauled Booker Jones with a measure of comfort, sparing a length at the finish, the verdict not justifying the obvious superiority of the horse notwithstanding the weight that he was conceding. Azzurro ran on to finish third. The rest of the runners were simply outclassed. Starlet who finished fourth, reportedly burst her blood vessels. Trainer Padmanabhan said that Desert God would be running in the prestigious Maharaja`s Cup where his principal opponent is likely to be Be Safe who had a fair mock race on Saturday.

Sandesh rode another peach of a race to guide Suleiman Attaollahi trained Gabino to a resolute win over Flamboyance in the 1600 metres V T Velu Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 45 to 65. Flamboyance slipped into a prominent position on turning for home, with a ground saving run along the rails. Gabino took time to warm up but when Sandesh drove out the favourite with all the resources at his command, the favourite responded strongly and managed to nose out the front runner in virtually the final stride of the race. Feliciana who raced up with the pace, stayed on to finish third.

The much hyped Supreme General, from the yards of trainer Karthik, made an impressive winning debut on the local track, claiming the Everynsky Trophy (Div I), a race for maiden three-year-olds. Supreme General who was touted as the best three-year-old even before he made his debut by the hype created about him at Mumbai, had flopped miserably when attempting to straightaway step up in class by taking on winners. Now racing in modest company, Supreme General swept past the front running Zafran at the top of the straight to win by a widening margin of four lengths over Tzar and Wild Temptation. This was an impressive win for Supreme General who should be a force to reckon with once when he fills up strongly. The trainer said that the next race that Supreme General would feature win would be the Gr 1 Colts Championship, scheduled for the third Sunday of June. Rank outsider Tarini was ridden to victory by jockey Kiran Naidu in the lower division of the race over Brave Minstrel. The latter was interfered by Tarini who shifted out in the closing stages of the race and even made contact with Brave Minstrel. The resultant objection did not find favour with the Stewards who overruled the objection on the grounds that the interference did not make a material difference to the outcome of the race. However, the jockey is sure to be pulled up for careless riding.

In the race held in pouring rain, Imran Khan was able to extract that bit extra from Fresh Start to measure favourite Artic Attraction in the final moments of the race to win the 1400 metres Chettinad Stud Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated30 to 50. Artic Attraction and Fresh Start made their moves at the top of the straight but the less heralded Ramandeep kept using the whip on the left persistently despite the horse veering out of a straight course. His inability to change the whip hand as also use persuasive skills with a hand ride hurt the chances of the favourite. Wild Wild Angels who perhaps relished the underfoot conditions, ran above expectations to finish third. The lower division of the race was cancelled as the jockeys protested against the underfoot conditions following a spell of rain during the running of the sixth and seventh races.

The one sided betting on Lunar Storm in the 1200 metres Prabalo Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35, pointed to the success of the favourite who had been showing out in the workouts. Lunar Storm did not encounter any resistance as the filly stormed clear in the straight to win with ease from Harley Quinn on whom jockey Kiran Rai rode a questionable race. However, the jockey will came escape critical scrutiny as underfoot conditions could be cited for the way the horse was ridden. Harley Quinn was the ante-post favourite but the odds on the filly expanded in the ring along with New Era and both these horses were not serious about their task in the race.

The 1100 metres New Market Plate, a race for horses in the lowest class, looked like a minefield. However, Anmol Hira who came in for one sided support managed to win start to finish at the expense of A Crown who warmed up to the task after the front-runner had gone away beyond anyone`s reach. Sudha was third.