S.A.Shehzad Abbas trained Don Valentino (Don Micheletto-Lansbury) ran a mighty race, to lift the A.P. Race Horse Owners Association Trophy, the feature event of Tuesday’s races at Hyderabad. Vijay Dhanush set the pace for the other five, as they set out over the 2000 metres trip and continued to hold good till the last 150 metres. Golden Queen made a quick move to take over from Vijay Dhanush. Ajit Kumar, who had completed riding forty winners only in the last race day, brought Don Valentino with a big run and after a keen tussle with Golden Queen, surged past by three parts of a length at the finish. The long time leader Vijay Dhanush finished third.

The Trainer P.Pratap Reddy Memorial Cup, a six furlongs sprint for horses in category II was divided into two races. The higher division was won by S.S.Faisal Hassan trained Aspire (Dancing Beggar-Rambagh), in a thrilling finish with Illustrator. Al Jabal set the motion in his customary fashion and led till entering the final 200 metres. Illustrator on the extreme outside and Aspire beside him were seen flashing on from way behind and the race looked to be a fight between the two even before they could get past almost half a dozen horses in front. Aspire held an edge over Illustrator throughout the fight and prevailed by a ‘neck’ at the finish. Al Jabal finished third, ahead of the favourite Commanding Heights.

The lower division was bagged by M.Sathyanarayana trained Crown Castle (Epicentre-Ice Castle), who made it a start to finish affair with jockey Vivek on the saddle. Shooting ahead through the inner ground after jumping out from the innermost draw, Crown Castle led all the way and the favourite Indian Epic could only finish second despite the best efforts of Imran Khan.

Imran Khan brought home three winners to stay ahead of P.S.Chouhan by two points. Precisely That (Rebuttal-Waggamama) scored an effortless victory, in the higher division of the Accomplish Plate. Netto’s filly was backed to the exclusion of the other runners, closing at 10 to 9 on. Precisely That was driven to the front on entering the final straight and drew away to establish a clear lead. Oru Oru Oru beat the rest of the field to finish second.

Imran started his pursuit with Handsome Hawk (Hymn-Sevilla), in the Mystical Cup. Star Striker set out on a start to finish mission over the 2200 metres trip and Sheikh’s Emperor joined mid-way up the straight. The two were battling it out when Handsome Hawk responded to Imran’s urgings and sped past the fighting duo with ease. Star Striker and Sheikh’s Emperor went past the winning post together and the judge not being able to separate them declared a dead-heat for the second place.

Another peach of a ride by Imran Khan enabled Star Saloni (Young Senor-Mikado) to get the better of the strongly fancied Russian Rhytham in the dying moments of the race. Russian Rhytham was quick at the start to head straight to the inner rails from the outermost draw and set a strong pace. Star Saloni raced on the haunches of Russian Rhytham till the top of the straight and moved alongside inside the last 300 metres. The two fought every inch of ground from there on and the stronger finish of Imran Khan earned him his third win of the day.

K.S.V.Prasad Raju’s Classic Crown (Tirol-Ahliyat) pulled off the biggest upset of the day, in the higher division of the Bhagat Singh Plate. Al Malawi and Green Thumb were battling it out inside the last 200 metres when veteran Laxman got Classic Crown to gallop like a champion and shot through to score easily. Green Thumb finished second ahead of the late finishing Amber Rose and Boyance.

The opening event of the day, the lower division, was won by Ananth Vatsalya trained Buck Knife (Hurricane State-Nationwide). P.S.Chouhan rode Buck Knife to a start to finish victory, giving the filly her maiden success. Geography finished second ahead of Merry Maid and Allegation.

Aficianado (Epicentre-First Wave), a 10 to 1 shot from D’Silva’s stable won the concluding race of the day, the Elite Zone Plate. The race favourite Steel Breaker was planted at the gates just as he did in his previous essay. Aficionado slipped in along the inner rails towards the last 100 metres and emerged clear from Caladium and Part Time Lover.