Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Cuban Pete showed vast improvement in his first attempt over a sprint by winning the 1200 metres Bangalore City Police Commissioner`s Trophy, a race for horses rated 45 to 65, the feature event of Saturday`s Bangalore races. Favourite Ice Floe who stumbled within the first furlong could not recover the leeway conceded and finished fourth.

Ice Floe was coming back to handicap and to a sharper distance after running over a mile in the Golconda 1000 Guineas but was considered good enough to win and was made the favourite ahead of Commodus and the rest. Cuban Pete who had always been campaigned over seven furlongs but running over six furlongs for the first time was also in the betting. Miniver Rose set a good clip with Cuban Pete racing in a handy second position ahead of Psychic Warrior, Commodus and the rest. Ice Floe who lost a footing early in the race was in the rear group. Cuban Pet assumed command inside the final furlong and spurted away for a comfortable win. Psychic Warrior held off Commodus and late rallying Ice Floe to take the runner-up berth.

There was a dust storm during the race and this has become a common feature in every race. The track looks bone dry with green patches interspersed with ground bereft of grass. One has not seen the Bangalore track in such miserable condition so early in the season. The season is set to conclude late in March, but the track looks pathetic with the grass spread being inconsistent. Whatever happened to the huge investment made on the irrigation system? The professionals have time and again voiced their concern over the track, but the authorities don`t care a damn for the welfare of the horses or the jockeys who ride them.

David Allan`s power-packed riding enabled Padmanabhan trained Foi At Amour to frustrate Cavaliere in the final stride of the race to win the 1600 metres Makara Sankranti Trophy, a race for horses rated 30 to 50. Foi Et Amour had on a couple of occasions had come close to winning but had fallen short. Now running in the lower class, Foi Et Amour was well fancied to win with Alexander Dumas and Cuban also being in serious betting consideration. Cuban went on a start to finish mission but in the stretch began to veer out under pressure and was overhauled by a host of horses. Cavaliere had a good lead going into the final 100 metres but Foi Et Amour who responded well to the strong riding by David Allan managed to neck out the front-runner at the post. Duxton covered a lot of ground to finish a noteworthy third.

Satish Narredu trained Born Queen received one-sided support to win the 1100 metres Infants Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. It was clear from the betting trend that Born Queen was the most forward among the horses in the fray and the others just made up the numbers. After Shanaey led the field into the final furlong, Born Queen stormed ahead and won by a widening margin of four lengths. Flaming Road ran on to take the third position.

Prasanna Kumar trained Knotty Oaks proved too good in the 1400 metres Kalhatti Falls Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Backed to the exclusion of the rest, Knotty Oaks was taken on a start to finish mission by jockey Anthony Raj and the favourite spurted clear in the stretch to win the race with ease from Legendary Princess and Augustina. Asgardia`s last effort in a race for three-year-olds was eye-catching. When trainer Sulaiman Attaollahi pitched his ward in a handicap race, it was clear that the progeny of Air Support would go to the post in the lower division of the Kalhatti Plate at cramped odds as none in the opposition could measure up to him on the weight of performance. Trevor Patel had an arm-chair ride on Asgardia who led from the start and drew clear in the final furlong to win the race as he pleased. First-timer Cameleons Image was second some lengths adrift followed by Southern Power.

Jockey S John drove out favourite Propine to subdue the opposition in the 1100 metres Srirangapattana Plate, a race for horses rated 15 to 35. Premier Premises had the lead going into the final furlong, but the fancied runner failed to sustain and looked vulnerable as Propine unleashed a powerful run on the wide outside to storm past the front-runner to win the race with a measure of comfort. Red Galileo pushed Premier Premises to the third place.

John had a quick back to back double when he guided favourite Gin Daisy to an easy win over Perfect King in the 1100 metres Shivaganga Falls Plate, a race for horses rated 0 to 20. Gin Daisy who had gone down last time out in a tight finish to Candlelightqueen looked far too superior to the field she was taking on. John had the Neil Devaney ward Gin Daisy relaxed in about the fourth position as Kruger Park set the pace. Inside the final 200 metres, Gin Daisy swept past the front-runner and went beyond the reach of the rest. Perfect King made a futile bid to catch up with the front-runner but failed miserably and had to settle for the second spot. Bella Mama was third some lengths adrift.

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Born Queen (Yash Narredu up) winner of the Infants Plate

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Asgardia (Trevor Patel up) winner of the Kalhatti Falls Plate (Div-II)

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Propine (S John up) winner of the Srirangapatna Plate

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Gin Daisy (S John up) winner of the Shivaganga Falls Plate

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Cuban Pete (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Bangalore City Police Commissioner Trophy

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Foi Et Amour(David Allan up) winner of the Makara Sankranti Trophy

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Knotty Oak (Antony Raj S up) winner of the Kalhatti Falls Plate (Div-I)

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