Fresh from an impressive scuttle in Bangalore, finishing third behind accomplished sprinters Sprint Star and Siachen, Neil Darashah-trained Successor (Ontario-Lakes of Killarney) wrapped up the A.P. Governor’s, the feature of Sunday’s race card at Hyderabad. Successor was the firm favourite at 14-to-10 while the local filly, Vijay Damini, was second in demand at 18-to-10. The Sohna Stud-bred Successor was the oldest of the four runners and he settled well behind Vijay Damini, while Aprillia and Optimus Prime followed closely. Ryan Marshall got Successor to hit the front as the four showed up on the straight and the six-year-old ran true, to win in style. Optimus Prime came up with a spirited gallop in the last 100 metres to finish second ahead of Vijay Damini and Aprillia.

Donald Netto-schooled Daniella (Eljohar-Fair Truce) caused a flutter in the Ivanjica Cup, beating the favourite, The Leader, over the mile trip. Daniella made every post a winning one under apprentice A.K. Pawar, to pay a whopping winning dividend of Rs 1,376 for a fiver. Fearless Mission, Deepanjali and Moheena were in close attendance behind Daniella till the final bend and The Leader joined them to get into a striking position as they entered the straight. Imran Khan on The Leader tried his best to get his mount to terms with Daniella but Netto’s filly bowled along merrily, to pull off a big upset. Queen Of Sheeba dropped the rider approaching the seven-furlong marker.

Shehzad Abbas’s Anemometer (Young Senor-Anna Purna) won the higher division of the Byerly Brigade Cup without much fuss. The favourite Armada was withdrawn before the race took off, after he showed tantrums and refused to get loaded. The major threat to Shehzad’s ward was out of the way that made Anemometer’s task that much easier. Imran Khan settled Anemometer on the haunches of Tiara till the distance post and surged ahead effortlessly. Tiara held on in second while Nandanvanaa moved in late to take the third spot.

P.S. Chouhan had to work hard to get M.V. Narayana Rao’s Cannon Vision (Stavros-Romanza) to raise a gallop and win the lower division of The Byerly Brigade Cup. True Star was withdrawn after the horse reared up inside the gates and hurt himself. Democracy led the reduced field of seven runners and looked good with a three-length advantage near the distance post. The race got to a boil in the last 150 metres and India One was the first to get Democracy. Cannon Vision, who had fallen back to the second last position near the 600 metres marker, made her move on the extreme outside and with P.S. Chouhan pelting his way, pulled off a grandstand victory. Democracy finished third ahead of Lord Nelson.

M. Sathyanarayana-trained Staccato (Rebuttal-Rustle Of Spring) launched a late assault to emerge victorious in the opening race, the lower division of The Sangareddy Plate. Dazzling Princess and Play The Music headed the field till the last 400 metres and the first-named quickened to assume command and looked good. The race looked in the safe keeping of Dazzling Princess 100 metres from home when Staccato picked up speed in a trice and sped past to score an amazing win. Fanaka managed to get the better of Play The Music for the third place.

Trainer Prasad Raju was at the receiving end once again when his filly Phenomenal Speed failed to live up to her name and finished second to friendless Price Warrior (Sunday Doubt-Integrity), in the higher division. Luck doesn’t seem to be favouring Prasad and he has more seconds against his name than any others so far this season. Phenomenal Speed was quick to assume command early in the race, followed closely by Price Warrior and Mukhtar. Once on the home straight, a fierce battle ensued between Phenomenal Speed and Price Warrior, and Satheesh’s ward got the better in the last 50 metres.

L. D’Silva’s Lambourn (Tirol-Jade Image) was taken to a start-to-finish by Ch. K. Chary, in The Divine Dreams Plate. Victory Sky, Heart N Soul, Juliet, Sugar Deal and Askioz followed Lambourn and they raced in that order for most part of the ten-furlong trip. As they showed up on the final straight, Chary let go Lambourn and the four-year-old filly extended the leeway. Askioz put in a late effort but could only reduce the margin to a length and a half.

Ananth Vatsalya’s Ziglar (Bee’s Prospector-Dream Image) produced an amazing gallop under apprentice Ajit Kumar to land the spoils in The Subramanya Bharati Plate. Trigger Happy and Zone ran prominently till the top of the straight and the latter was the first to take the initiative. Ziglar, travelling along the inner rails in third throughout, was pulled outward by Ajit Kumar and when asked for an effort produced an effortless gallop to win with ease. Green Gift beat half a dozen runners to take the second place ahead of Zone.