Trainer G Srinivas Babu from Mysore ambitiously campaigned his ward Flash Drive in Bangalore and he was rewarded for his endeavour when the six-year-old son of Sedgefield brought off a stunning upset in the 1600 metres Smart Chieftan Trophy, a race for horses rated 60 and above, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. Trainer Arjun Mangalorkar and jockehy S John were associated with a quadruple during the course of the day`s action.

The feature event had an open look about it as none of the runners looked outstanding. The continuous rains over the last few days had ensured that the going would be on the heavier side notwithstanding the official penetrometer reading. The going was certainly tricky and most runners struggled. In fact, all the horses which raced up with the pace were legless in the final furlong. Incidentally, the first three place finishers were all ridden by apprentices. The allowance claimed by them had a major say in the outcome of the race as the compression of scales has ensured that drop in weights would have a major say if the apprentices don`t mess up.

While Flash Drive who won the race had the experience of winning at Western India besides a number of races that he won at Mysore, Aayan who finished second had recorded a hat-trick of wins in winter, his last win over Quaker Ride who subsequently went on to win three races in a row during this season enhancing his credentials over this suitable trip. Ambitious Reward had once lost by a whisker to the top notch performer Amazing Grace a few years back and had since then dropped significantly in the scales. The four kg allowance claimed by R N Darshan also had a big say in the performance of the six-year-old who had the experience to tackle the underfoot conditions.

Ambitious Reward had won 967 days ago and barring his last run where he finished about 5.5 lengths behind Quaker Ridge, all other runs had seen him perform poorly. As such, the betting was focussed on Flamboyance, Sea Fairey, Silver Chieftan and Torch Bearer though the big odds that were offered on each of these horses itself indicated that there was no clear favourite who could be expected to pull it off.

Silver Chieftan was taken on a start to finish mission by jockey David Breux and the grey led the field into the straight before disappearing without a trace. Sea Fairey showed up prominently inside the final furlong while Flamboyance failed to find foot and was a beaten horse well before the race came to a boil. Sea Fairey led for a while on sufferance with Ambitious Reward, Aayan and Flashing Drive showing up on the wide outside. Ambitious Reward shot ahead but Darshan`s inexperience went against the horse as he kept rolling in fearing the horse on his outside which was shifting in. When Flash Drive moved over to the rails, Darshan in anticipation checked his horse and lost a possible runner-up berth. Aayan covered ground well in the end to take the second position. Torch Bearer ran on finish fourth while the other fancied runners were not sighted.

The last run of Fabulous where he had run below par had been the subject matter of an enquiry by the Stipendiary Stewards. Once again backed to the exclusion of the rest to win the 1400 metres Borsalino Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds, Fabulous had no problem in keeping the late flourish of Inter Flora at bay to win the race as he pleased. The explanation last time was that the horse may not have liked the soft underfoot conditions. Possibly the experience of that run in similar going had a beneficial effect on the horse who seemed to enjoy the going by winning by a widening margin of victory. Sterling Role came up with a big run only to slacken in the end and lost the runner-up berth to Inter Flora.

Antananarivo was another horse who made amends for his poor run last time out. The odds offered on Antananarivo expanded as some inspired betting came on debutant Fine Example though towards close to race time, the odds went up indicating that there was confusion as to who could be backed. In the event, Fine Example played up at the gates and was withdrawn from the fray. Antananarivo brooked no opposition as the daughter of Win Legend had the field stranded while winning by a margin of over six lengths. Masada was the best of the beaten brigade taking the second spot ahead of Daisy Duke.

Padmanabhan trained Balian was expected to improve on his last start second and win over the extended trip of a mile in the Sans Craintes Stud Plate, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. However, Storm Ahead who had disappointed in the last effort found his bearings as he came home with a late dash in the final furlong to measure the battling duo of Montenegro and Balian in the closing moments of the race. Montenegro led from the start though he travelled wide all the way with Balian in close proximity. In the run in for home, Balian appeared to have measured the front runner but Montenegro dug into reserves even as his opponent ran out of gas over the mile long trip and managed to keep the slight advantage till the post to get the second position.

Neil Darashah trained Escala recorded an encore in the 1400 metres Camineto Plate a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Favourite Racing Fire never raised a fluent gallop and his poor performance certainly was not in keeping with the form that he had displayed in his earlier runs. Blue Blazer had the first run on his opponents in the straight but could not sustain the foray in front for long as Escala made swift progress on the wide outside and sped away for a comfortable win. Lunar Storm also rallied well to grab the second position. Racing Fire finished down the field.

Arjun Mangalorkar trained Pallas rallied brilliantly in the final furlong to go storming clear and win the 1400 metres Brave Dancer Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35 with a great deal of ease. Free Rainbow was second ahead of Wonder Woman who covered acres of ground on the wide outside to save place money.

The 1200 metres Confucious Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35, had an open look about it. The odds shot up on Export Quality and it was difficult to spot a winner. For those watching the trend in the ring, it was clear that Perfectebony could be the elusive winner they were looking for as the odds shortened on the three-year-old. Jockey Vivek took the Pradeep Annaiah ward to the front and the progeny of Mull of Kintyre stayed put in front and held off the strong challenge of Shivalik Girl to land the spoils at nourishing odds. Export Quality was a well beaten third.

Md Khan trained Scorching gathered steam inside the final 200 metres and got the better of favourite Desert Gold in the dying moments of the race to win the1100 metres Xisca Plate, a race for horses in the lowest class. New Era covered lot of ground in the end to save place money.