Michael Eshwer trained Milos produced a strong rally to get the better of favourite O Kanhaiya to claim the 1400 metres Civil Services Trophy, a race for maiden three-year-olds, the feature event of Friday`s Mysore races. The day`s races kindly for punters as those chasing the well-backed horses stood to gain in the small card of six events.

Among the modest lot of horses that were in the fray, Rakesh trained O Kanhaiya was the firm favourite though the horse hadn`t come close to the winner in any of his outings. On the other hand, Milos, the second favourite, had gone down fighting in a tight finish. O Kanhaiya was preferred if only because of the extensive track work which indicated that the gelding had improved a great deal. Veteran jockey Y S Srinath had O Kanhaiya chasing Pollux into the straight before taking charge. O Kanhaiya led deep in the stretch but the finishing burst of Milos in the capable hands of jockey Anthony Raj put paid to the hopes of the front-runner in the shadow of the post.

Srinath found himself on two losing favourites. In the day`s opener, News Maker, also from the stables of trainer Rakesh, was backed to the exclusion of the rest. However, the favourite flopped badly. From a handy position at the top of the straight, Spiritualqueen moved with big strides in the final furlong to go storming clear to win by a widening margin of five lengths over favourite News Maker who was flat-footed. Shivalik Dhanush was third.

The 1200 metres Udhagamandalam Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 45 attracted a number of entries and this perhaps helped make up the day`s card. The race was run in three divisions which was the reason why the day`s races did not go void due to the paucity of runners. Prithviraj trained Clever Hans was strongly fancied to win Division I of the race. Hindu Singh pushed Clever Hans to take over the running inside the final 100 metres and the favourite shook off the challenge of Anakin to land the spoils. Pinnacle Point who raced up with the field weakened to finish third.

The Division II of the Udhagamandalam Trophy was an eventful one. Apprentice jockey Shreyas Singh guided D Fighter to a narrow win over favourite Silver Days again, Bellissimo and Coorg General. D Fight led from the straight, stuck to the rails and managed to survive a close call. Favourite Silver Days Again had to cover a lot of leeway on those in front. Though the five-year-old mare finished on purposefully, she fell short by a whisker. Bellissimo was third. The worst affected in the close finish was Coorg General who was denied a run along the rails as he ran into horses which stayed put and did not give scope for the jockey Nazerul Alam to angle out for a clear run as there was no space available. The jockey put an objection against the jockey of the winner and runner-up citing interference which cost him a sure opportunity to place. There was a bit of jostling in the end and this came about because of Silver Days Again rolling inwards. The objection was overruled.

There was a king-sized gamble in Division III of the race. Warren Singh trained The King N I was smashed in the ring and in keeping with the market expectations, the horse duly won with a measure of comfort in the hands of jockey A R Pradeep. Altair chased the winner without hope. Able One was faraway third.

Last start winner at Bangalore, Azhar Ali-trained Memoriter was backed spiritedly to win again in the 1400 metres Nagaland Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Memoriter was always in control of the race all the way to the winning post and had no problem in keeping the challenge of Fernet Branca at bay. Lovely Thought was a long way behind in the third position.