The curtains on the Hyderabad Winter Races came down on Tuesday 1st March, 2011. A total of 311 races were run in the 35 race days, including the two extra meetings, over a period of four months. Hyderabad Race Club has two race tracks and this enables continuous racing from mid-July to early March, every year. One track is sand-based and that is used during the Monsoon Season while the tan bark based track is used during winter. L.V.R. Deshmukh earned his second successive championship, topping the table with 35 wins. Anupam Sharma came very close, finishing a close second, just two points behind Deshmukh.

This young trainer moved base to Hyderabad just two years ago and this has been his best performance, with a moderate string of less than 40 horses. Jockey P.S. Chouhan created another record by riding home a massive 63 winners, 10 more than the earlier best of 53, achieved by R.B. Shinde many years ago. Chouhan signed off in style, winning the last race in a pulsating finish. There was no one to match this feat, with the second best being apprentice G. Sai Vamshi, notching up 19 wins. Considering the fact that the young lad opened his account this winter, his feat needs to be applauded. He, however could not be present to receive the Champion Apprentice Jockey award as he had to be rushed to the hospital after a fall in the paddock when his mount Wedding Gift reared up.

Among the new crop of apprentice jockeys, Ajit Kumar has been the pick, with 32 wins against his name from two seasons. If the winning trend continues, he should reach the status of a full jockey early next season. G. Sai Vamshi, P. Venkat and Kiran Naidu are the other names among the youngsters who deserve a mention. The winner of the Vijay Textiles Golconda Derby Stakes, Business Tycoon was declared the Champion Horse. The son of Placerville is the proud property of Vijay Racing & Farms Pvt. Ltd., represented by Vijay Kumar Gupta and Susheel Kumar Gupta and trained by Laxman Singh. Anupam Sharma-trained Young Soldier with 4 wins out of 5 starts was the horse of the season. The four-year-old gelding is owned by Col. S.B. Nair.

Vijay Racing & Farms Pvt. Ltd., represented by Vijay Kumar Gupta and Susheel Kumar Gupta ended up as the Leading Individual Owners with a total stake earnings of Rs 70,11,025. Vijay Racing & Farms Pvt. Ltd. and Pratap Raceitement Pvt. Ltd were the leading Joint Owners with a stake earnings of Rs 98,43,670. With the horses at Hyderabad returning to the stables for a long summer rest, the race track will come alive in the month of July, when the Hyderabad Monsoon Season gets underway.