The eleven year old Coral Gables (Young Senor-Potsclose), trained by Leo D’Silva, produced an astonishing gallop, in the final furlong, to lift the Sri S.Ramakrishnam Raju Memorial Cup, a seven furlongs race for horses in the highest category. Coral Gables, a horse with a big head and a bigger heart, is a champion in his own right, with a career statistics of 31 wins from 70 starts beat his eight rivals less than half his age. Another testimony to Coral Gables’ glorious career is the fact that he has finished off the frame only five times. There is nothing more for the son of Young Senor to prove and in all fairness he should be given a graceful exit and retired from racing duties.  

Da Xia set a cracking pace right from the start and brought the field into view on the straight. Inside the final furlong, Da Xia was still two lengths clear with Above The Line being the nearest runner, followed by Vendetta, Suchiman and the others. Coral Gables raced third last as the field rounded the final turn and once on the straight, apprentice Kuldeep Singh pulled his mount away from the inner rails and guided him on the extreme outside. That was all the assistance the veteran campaigner needed from the saddle and the rest he did on his own, flying in the last 100 metres to sweep the field and win the race in the shadow of the winning post. It was sheer pleasure to watch Coral Gables gallop, once he set sails. 

The Monsoon season at Hyderabad came to an end for the purpose of announcing the championships in various categories. Trainer L.V.R.Deshmukh bagged the top honours in the trainers’ category for the third successive season while A.Imran Khan displaced reigning champion P.S.Chouhan to get to the top among the jockeys. Apprentice G.Sai Vamshi with 12 wins to his credit was adjudged as the leading apprentice claiming allowance. 

Imran Khan rode a double on the day through Netto trained Drayton and Prasad Raju’s Celandine. Drayton (Epicentre-Crystal Beauty) was momentarily hampered for room, with a furlong left, in the higher division of the Dundoo Ekambar Memorial Cup, with Brianna in front and Bright Spectrum racing alongside. Imran wriggled out of the mess quickly and rode like one processed to beat Brianna at the wire. Bright Spectrum finished third, ahead of Craven Cottage while the favourite Bloody Mary ended up a tame fifth. 

Celandine (Alnashr Alwasheek-Armetta) tracked Dazzling Princess till the last 300 metres and raised a fluent gallop when Imran asked for an effort, to surge ahead and score an easy victory, in the Cape Knight Plate. A Horizontal Urge was withdrawn before the race after the filly refused to get into the gates. 

D’Silva and apprentice Kuldeep Singh, who had combined to win the feature event of the race through Coral Gables had earlier pulled off an upset win through Rosemead (Inhabitant-Rose Garden), in the lower division of the Dundoo Ekambar Memorial Cup. After a lethargic beginning, Rosemead progressed gradually to join the front bunch, rounding the final turn. Fearless Mission was the first to take the initiative on top of the straight and took off to build up a useful lead. Rosemead unleashed a powerful run in the last 100 metres and sped past Fearless Mission to win by half a length at the finish. The favourite Golden Palace from D’Silva’s yard improved late to take the third spot. 

Jockey P.S.Chouhan, who looked to give Imran a fight to the wire in the championship tussle, could win only on one of his day’s engagement. The top weighted Toli Toli Toli (Mid Town-Big and Blonde) from M.V.Narayana’s stable justified the favouritism, beating Frontline by a clear four lengths. The two fought for a brief while on top of the straight and the strong handling of P.S.Chouhan enabled Toli… to surge ahead in the last 100 metres. 

The opening race of the day, the Forest Treasure Plate was won by K.Satheesh trained Handsome Hunk (Juniper-Knowle Park). Stylish Chieftan was withdrawn on veterinary grounds and Euphonic was sent into the race as a piping hot favourite at 10 to 4 ‘on’. Handsome Hunk started off on a start to finish mission and kept improving towards the finish, staving off the strong challenge of Euphonic.