Local contestant Super Duper (Keltos-Supercal) from L.V.R. Deshmukh’s stable bagged the Grade III, The Deccan Bookmakers Colts Championship Stakes, in captivating fashion on Sunday, at Hyderabad. Super Duper was an unbeaten campaigner at Malakpet, romping home in all his three starts, of which two were Million races. Bred at the Capricorn Stud Farm, Super Duper was always considered a classic potential by the connections but the grey had failed to impress during his summer stint at Bangalore. “He had some bad habits and looks to have overcome that,” said the jockey, P.S. Chouhan, speaking exclusively to Indiarace after the race and added, “The fellow has class and he is coming up well at the right time.”

On paper, the race looked to be easy for Pesi Shroff-trained Picasso, who had travelled from Western India with an impressive record of four victories from his previous four starts. The Black Cash colt was backed to the exclusion of other runners in the race, emerging as an overwhelming favourite at 10-to-3 ‘on’. Vijay’s Conquer set a mighty pace over the mile and brought the field into the straight while Super Duper followed the leader at a close distance and Picasso improving into third. P.S. Chouhan started to ride out Super Duper inside the final furlong and the grey bridged the gap rapidly to emerge clear from Vijay’s Conquer to etch a classic triumph against his name. Vijay’s Conquer held on gallantly to the runner-up berth from Picasso, who probably failed to read the early pace and never looked at ease at any part of the race. There was a minor mishap on top of the straight, bringing down two riders, Ch.K. Chary and Mark Gallagher. Golden Palace veered out all of a sudden on top of the straight and came down after the horse lost its balance. The fall was right in front of Forest Regent’s path and he too came down along with Gallagher. Mark escaped injuries while Chary has been hospitalized for observation. This is the second Colt’s success for Deshmukh, having won the 2003 edition with Red Orchid, while Chouhan won this event for the first time.

Anupam Sharma’s Jabel Queen (Epicentre-Desert Storm) scored an impressive victory in The Totaram’s Cup, a nine-furlong race for horses in the highest category. El Paso carried the top weight of 61.5 kilos on a start-to-finish mission but failed to wrap up the race. The five-year-old had built up a good lead on the straight and was looking good at that stage. Jabel Queen had got entangled in traffic as the field approached the final 600 metres and it took some time and effort by jockey Laxmikanth to extricate from the mess but once he did that and showed the daylight to Jabel Queen, she broke into rapture and flew past El Paso in the final stages of the race.

The Army Cup, a five-furlong sprint for horses in Category II was divided into two races. Both the divisions were won by horses with lip-smacking odds. Tell Me A Tale lifted the higher division while Lone Ranger won the lower division. J. Silvester-trained Tell Me a Tale (Diffident-Palladio) was full of running when Nitin Singh pulled the five-year-old to be given a free run. She galloped resolutely to beat English Indian in the shadow of the winning post. Kohinoor King and Winning Strides filled the frame.

P.S. Chouhan made a tactful move on Deshmukh’s Lone Ranger (Major Impact-Lone Star) while rounding the final turn to surge ahead as the ten runners entered the home stretch. Once on the straight, Lone Ranger increased the lead over the others and that came in handy towards the closing stages to thwart the late dash of Ruffiano in the last 100 metres. Lone Ranger won by a ‘head’ at the wire from Ruffiano, who could not get the best assistance from the saddle, as apprentice Harrinder Singh dropped the whip on top of the straight.

Jockey A. Imran Khan pulled off a popular double through Nasheeta and Twentyfivepips in the higher and the lower division of The Goa Plate respectively. D. Netto’s Nasheeta (China Visit-Tehema) broke away from the field on entering the straight and scored a mighty eight-length victory over her nearest rival Ponte Verdi. T. Srinagesh’s Twentyfivepips (Young Senor-Okati Okati Okati) was the one who received maximum support in the betting ring, closing at 18 to 10 while Oru Oru Oru eased out in odds after opening at ‘even money’. A bit troublesome near the gates, Twentyfivepips was lethargic as the field was dispatched but improved to join the front-runners on approaching the 600 metres marker. As the nine runners appeared on the straight, Imran took Twentyfivepips ahead with a fluent gallop and scored a thumping victory. Ice Rain ran on to be second while Oru Oru Oru ended up third after running green on the final stretch.

Trainer Shamsuddin led in a winner through Standing Ovation (Broto-Justicia), in the higher division of The Star Haven Cup. Having missed a winning berth in his earlier attempt, Standing Ovation made amends to reap dividends with a gate-to-post victory. Standing Ovation had a sizable lead mid-way up the straight but that started to diminish rapidly with Hardccore moving up menacingly in the last 100 metres. Standing Ovation held on by the shortest margin from Hardccore while Al Jabal and Grey Shot filled the frame.

Prince Paladin (Dark Nile-Racing Dream) scored an upset victory to shed his maiden ranks in The Akkanna Plate, the concluding race of the day to give trainer Shamsuddin a rare double. Cherry Hill with C. Alford – who replaced Ch.K. Chary – was looking good inside the last furlong but Prince Paladin moved with big strides along the inner rails and surged ahead to score an upset.

Victorous Sally (Gaswar-Tirolean Gold) beat the race favourite Armada convincingly in the lower division of The Star Haven Cup. Armada was sluggish at the start and raced at the rear till the 800 metres and improved from thereon but had to settle for the second place as the winner kicked on in the home stretch to stay a clear four lengths in front.

Trainers Shamsuddin, L.V.R. Deshmukh and jockeys Imran Khan and P.S. Chouhan were the professionals who scored a double each on the day.