On an eventful afternoon, trainer Vijay Singh and his retained rider Christopher Alford had a good day at the office as they notched up an impressive hattrick with Validate, Appertain and Ballantyne. While the first and last named were available at decent odds of 18/10 and 5/2 respectively, Appertain was an on-money favourite.

The day commenced with the Bath-trained Mezzano capturing the Bountiful Treasure Cup in the hands of Afzal Khan. The winner landed a good gamble for his connections as he closed a 5/2 favourite. Known to be very comfortable in the lowest class, Mezzano swept past front-running Golden Image in a trice when asked for an effort by his rider.

Bold Reply won the afternoon’s main event, The Hyderabad Race Club Cup, much to the chagrin of the followers of money. Both Antenor and Azureus had their fair share of supporters but it was the neglected owner-mate Bold Reply who produced a winning gallop in the final furlong. Gracing the wrong end of the field after a tardy start, Bold Reply moved brilliantly down the middle under Ashish’s strong handling to peg back Storming Success and Azureus. Islam on ‘SS’ tried to win the race in the Stewards room but to no avail. There was really nothing in the objection.

Trainer Vijay Singh seems to be getting into the habit of winning mile races with maiden starters. He did it with Romantic Tactics and again now with Validate. The filly by Valid Concept out of Shuddabot was given a perfect ride by Christopher Alford who left nothing to chance. As money came on Grace N Grit, the odds on Validate expanded but the former never really troubled the winner.

Alford had to work hard on Appertain to keep at bay the likes of Royal ballerina and Dynamic Move. The withdrawal of Sangoma made things easier for the winner. Sportsman was backed by a section of punters but he never really posed a serious threat.

The leading pair of professionals completed their hattrick with Ballantyne in the Compassionate Plate. The favourite Corazon faded out in the straight after trying to match strides with front-running Crush On You. Alford drove his mount along the rails to snatch the verdict near home.

Utilising his inside draw to good effect, Sea Legend made a start-to-finish affair of the Senor Pele Handicap. Promising apprentice Srinivas Rao on Glory of North suffered a nasty fall but is reportedly recovering well. Because of the fall, several runners behind him were affected. As such, their runs should be taken with a pinch of salt.