Laxman Singh-trained Elzaam (Tirol-Shark Games) is maturing into an excellent filly and she proved it by winning the Major Mir Mujtaba Memorial Cup, a six-furlong sprint on Monday at Hyderabad. The Tirol filly who earned her third successive victory also boasts of a remarkable track record of six wins from 11 starts and to score over varied distances - ranging from six to 11 furlongs - is something special about the filly. It’s Kudos to trainer Laxman Singh for keeping Elzaam in top fitness.

Elzaam was the raging favourite going into the race, with Orient Glory having his share of supporters. The duo raced almost together in the first four furlongs, with Elzaam running close to the rails and Orient Glory two lengths away from it. Entering the straight for the final dash, P.S. Chouhan got busy on Orient Glory but was no match when Gary Carter eased the reins and urged Elzaam to go for it. Elzaam readily responded and outclassed the field majestically.

With the monsoon season reaching the half-way stage, the competition for the professional honours is getting tighter. Among the jockeys it is a clear fight between P.S. Chouhan and Imran Khan, the latter booting home a double to take a two-point lead. The trainers table looks very open with almost five of them in the forefront. Laxman Singh and S.A. Shehzad Abbas pulled off a brace each.

Laxman Singh’s Vijays Dhara (Tirol-Madamoiselle) was confidently ridden by Gary Carter, to wrap up The Cuddapah Plate, in front of the Grand Stands. Rohini Star on a start-to-finish mission was joined by Valentine and Bound For Glory near the distance post and the outcome looked to be a close finish among the three, when Vijays Dhara made rapid progress from the rear to breeze past and win with a measure of comfort. Bound For Glory, Rohini Star and Valentine finished together in that order behind the winner.

The supporting event of the day was The Hyderabad Veterinary College Diamond Jubilee Cup, run over seven furlongs and it was bagged by the top-weighted Power Play (Brave Hunter-Rustle Of Spring). Satheesh’s ward made every post a winning one but had to survive a scare from the fast-finishing Cannon Vision and Nandanvanaa close home. It turned out to be a close finish with Power Play holding on by half a length from Cannon Vision, while Nandanvanaa finished third a ‘head’ behind.

Shehzad Abbas and Imran Khan combined to pull off a double. They started the day with Angelica (Terrell-Speciallittleangel) in the lower division of The Deccan Prince Plate. The top two market fancies, Westminister and Angelica slipped to the front on entering the straight and they fought a fierce battle all through the last two furlongs with the latter holding an advantage throughout and winning by three parts of a length. Bribe Madi was up with them for a brief while and fizzled out to finish third.

Imran Khan rode out Shehzad’s Swiss Don (Don Micheletto-Swiss Maid) to a thumping win over Castle Town, in the K.M. Khan Memorial Gold Cup. Castle Town and Swiss Don started as joint favourites but the second named eased a bit, to close at 7 to 4, while Castle Town closed at 13 to 10. Fearless Mission had taken over the running by the time the field had passed the 600 metres marker, with Castle Town and Swiss Don in close attendance. Once on the straight, the two got to battle it out and Swiss Don turned out to be far superior. Imran rode the winner with vengeance, looking back at his adversary P.S. Chouhan repeatedly, in the last half a furlong of the race.

Trainer Faisal Hassan successfully pulled off a gamble through Green Gift (Kly Green-Rare Gift), in the Astana Plate. Ridden by apprentice G. Sai Vamshi, Green Gift moved fast from the rear and cut across the field sharply, to head straight to the inner rails on the straight. Luckily the filly did not do any damage to the other runners as she was full of running and pulled away by a big margin. Daily Star, Sharp Single and Cannon Gem filled the frame in that order.

Jockey P.S. Chouhan reported unwell before the concluding race and was replaced by R. Laxmikanth on Wedding Gift, in the higher division of The Deccan Prince Plate. Despite the change of rider, Wedding Gift (Royal Kingdom-Virginia Flapper) was a rage in the betting ring and found no difficulty in shedding his maiden ranks. Front Line chased the winner to finish second.