James McKeown trained Loch Lomond who was a short priced favourite of the day, duly obliged in the 1200 metres H H Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Memorial Trophy, a terms race for three-year-olds, the feature event of Friday`s Mysore races. The victory of the short-priced favourite from Chennai brought no relief to the beleaguered punters who were battered by the favourites playing truant.

Loch Lomond who had the benefit of a forward run at Bangalore was quoted at cramped odds as none in the field inspired confidence. Jockey Trevor Patel kept Loch Lomond in about the fourth position as Elvado cut a brisk pace. Elvado brought the field into view with Eye of the Mind ranging in the second position. Trevor had to get aggressive on the favourite to get into her rhythm. Eye of the Mind led the field deep into the final furlong before the favourite got into her stride, collared the front-runner and sped clear to win by a margin of over four lengths. Eye of the Mind stayed in the second position ahead of Udukai. Shooting Venus who dropped its jockey Darshan at the start caused a bit of a problem for those coming from behind in the final furlong.

The Bangalore trainers had kept away from the first few days of Mysore racing demanding among other things that their horses should be allowed to race at the handicap mark of Bangalore and that no additional penalty should be given by the local handicapper. There was a demand for transport subsidies. With the authorities holding firm, the trainers of Bangalore had no other go but to accept to race their wards with minor concessions. The presence of horses from Bangalore surely added to the headache of the punters whose belief that these horses would be superior to local horses did not come about causing them to back the losing favourites.

The misery of Bangalore challengers continued with Sovereign Orb which was at unbackable odds, suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Gold Field in the Yelahanka Plate, a race for horses rated 80 and above. Sovereign Orb had gone down by a whisker over seven furlongs in his last run at Bangalore to multi-classic winner Trafalgar with a start-to-finish dash but this time out, Trevor chose to play a waiting game letting Gold Field enjoy an uncontested lead. Gold Field in the hands of apprentice jockey Darshan Anthony made merry in front even as Sovereign Orb took his own time to warm up to the task in the home stretch. Though Sovereign Orb finished with a rush, the lead conceded was too much to bridge as Gold Field escaped to victory sparing a neck at the finish. Contributor was third more than four lengths adrift.

It is often difficult to explain why some horses get backed disproportionately despite the horse having no proven credentials. Fassbinder was one such horse who got backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1200 metres Kumaradhara Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Fassbinder had run nine times without winning. Despite this mediocre performance, Fassbinder was backed down on the basis of just one forward run last time. The S Ramesh-trained Fassbinder was backed from a higher quote to end up as a short-priced favourite displacing last start winner Impelling Power, the original favourite. Another factor against Fassbinder was the fact that jockey H Rathod rarely wins a race. In the event, Fassbinder who travelled wide into the straight was a spent force and finished in the ruck. Girinath trained Impelling Power moved with big strides on the wide outside from about the fifth position and had no problem in taking charge of the race with a furlong left in the race and won with ease from D Durga and Spiritual Force.

The story was repeated in the second race of the day as well, the 2000 metres Kasaragod Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Arjun Mangalorkar trained Muirfield who has let down on a continuous basis having won just one race from 11 starts was backed as a strong favourite with another Bangalore challenger Eco Friendly being next in demand. The local hopes Lucky Luciano and Coyote Girl were left to languish at long odds. In the event, Muirfield who chased Great Hope into the straight and led briefly in the straight, packed up under pressure. First Cayote Girl shaped like a winner by surging ahead inside the final furlong but was overhauled close to home by Bobby-trained Lucky Luciano in the hands of jockey Hindu Singh. Great Hope stayed on to finish third. Muirfield finished poorly while Eco Friendly was not spotted.

The races meant for the lowest category are like minefields, more so in Mysore as the form of the horses is no guarantee for performance. It was difficult to predict who could win in the 1400 metres Paddock Plate as none had impressive credentials. Shivalik Emperor was the favourite ahead of Thea`s Gift. Long shot Vijay`s Miracle led all the way only to be caught up with by stablemate Angel`s Dream who had chased the winner right from the start. Sarvan Kumar was able to get Apachu trained Angel`s Dream to overhaul the stablemate in the dying moments of the race to win at fancy odds. For the record, Angel`s Dream run run29 lengths behind the winner 14 days ago and was a maiden from 13 starts while Vijay`s Miracle hadn`t won for more than 1300 days!

There was no relief for the fourth race in a row for punters who chased the favourites as Rakesh trained Achook held off late rallying favourite Kensington to win the 1600 metres J H Foley Memorial Trophy, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Classic winner Kensington who had the benefit of a race run in August at Bangalore but had an interrupted career because of physical niggles was made the strong favourite ahead of Teresita who had the beating of Nilgiris Derby winner Alicia but was running after more than 200 days. It was a question of choosing between reputation and past performance against an emerging three-year-old like Achook. Ceffina set the pace as Teresita raced in the second position while Achook was in about the fourth or fifth position while Kensington headed the rear group. Jockey Umesh pushed Achook to quicken through the middle in the stretch. The long shot came up with a strong run and stormed clear inside the final 100 metres. Kensington produced a strong on the wide outside with giant strides but found the winning post coming too soon for comfort. The Inheritor made a big rally along the inside to be an impressive third. Teresita was fourth.

Last start winner Eddie The Eagle overhauled the front-running Silver Days Again in the closing stages of the race to win the 1400 metres Jog Falls Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Beat The Odds came in for big support to end up as a strong favourite but yet again the punters ended up being fooled. Silver Days Again led deep into the final furlong before losing steam giving way for lesser fancied Eddie The Eagle to assert his supremacy. Lovely Thoughts finished on strongly to nose out the long-time leader to pinch the runner-up berth. Beat The Odds was lost in the crowd.