Jockey P.S.Chouhan hogged the limelight at Malakpet on Friday, piloting four winners in a row. He rode a double for trainer M.Srinivas Reddy through Golden Arrow and Aprise and one each for trainers Shamsuddin and Deshmukh with Baazigar and Aegis respectively. The trainer, jockey combination of Ananth Vatsalya and Ajit Kumar completed a double with Nano Belle and Kohinoor Thunder.

Shamsuddin trained Baazigar (Chatham Strait-Rising Tide) continued to dominate with a rousing performance, to remain unbeaten from four starts. The 3 year old son of Chatham Strait which had won all its three starts during winter last was sent in as the firm favourite in a field of a dozen runners in the S.S.Cardmaster Memorial Cup – div.I, which featured the day’s card of eight races on Friday. Baazigar, entrusted to jockey P.S.Chouhan to guide its fortunes, started off smartly from the gates to head the field and made every post a winning one. Inside the final straight Baazigar stretched out easily to extend the lead without Chouhan having to pull out anything extra. Ashoka Chakra chased the winner all through the six furlongs to be the runner-up. Citi Supreme and Compromise finished third and fourth respectively.  

L.V.R.Deshmukh trained Aegis (Royal Kingdom-Adventure) produced a resolute gallop inside the last furlong to lift the lower division. Sporting Star, Ponte Verdi and Bound For Glory came in for the final run on the straight with Aegis improving to be a close fourth on the outside. Bound For Glory surged forward to get to the front but was no match when Aegis started to move up. Robust flashed on late to take the second spot in front of Bound For Glory. Winjoy also joined in late to fill the frame.

Ananth Vatsalya trained Nano Belle (Eljohar-Blue Blaze) justified the favouritism in the Anantapur Plate, the opener of the day. Shimmering Ice rushed to the front as the five runners were dispatched for the five furlongs sprint. Nano Belle tracked the leader about two lengths behind. Into the home stretch for the final 400 metres, Nano Belle was brought to challenge the leader by Ajit Kumar and surged clear inside the last 200 metres. Shimmering Ice finished second, ahead of Staminoizd and Roma Rouge.

Vatsalya’s Kohinoor Thunder (Sharp attack-Randomness) earned its first corn bill in the Guntur Plate, a six furlongs sprint race for 3 year old maiden horses. Proud Image jumped out the best and was in front in the first furlong. Grace Land then took charge with the favourite Proud Image settling well to run second and Kohinoor Thunder moving up to run third. As they came into the home stretch, Proud Image headed to lead and jockey Ajit Kumar brought Kohinoor Thunder with a strong challenge on the outside. Squanderer’s Square and Ice Barrier filled the frame.

Maid For Love (Quest Star-Bells of Holland) from J.Silvester’s stables rallied strongly to beat the favourite Itsy Bitsy in the lower division of the Fond Hope Plate. Maid For Love and Itsy Bitsy moved together to go past the leader Valley Crossing as they rounded the final bend. At one stage the favourite Itsy Bitsy looked to be travelling the better but apprentice Deepak Singh kept urging the ‘Maid’ on the inside and she moved forward to win by half a length.

Golden Arrow (Epicentre-Cornelia) from the stables of M.Srinivas Reddy emerged the winner in the Look of Eagles Cup. Golden Arrow and Ancillary raced together behind Rajkumar till the 600 metres board and went past the leader. The two began to fight out strongly inside the last 300 metres and the hard riding of P.S.Chouhan enabled the ‘Arrow’ to win by over two lengths. Havok and Nano Desire finished third and fourth respectively.

Aprise (Midtown-Lyricist) which had shifted to the care of trainer M.Srinivas Reddy recently, bounced back to winning ways in an impressive fashion. Settled in about fourth position, till approaching the last 600 metres, Aprise improved gradually under Chouhan and got into a striking position between the front running Yours Truly and Kathakali. Ridden out strongly by Chouhan, Aprise forged ahead to get to the front inside the last 150 metres and stayed well. All For Fun came up fast towards the closing stages to push back Yours Truly for the second place. Chayanandan ended up fourth. Silver Liner was withdrawn after being troublesome near the gates.

K.Satheesh’s ward The Best Man (Ontario-Bridgeofsighs) wrapped up the last race of the day, the higher division of the Fond Hope Plate. Hard Hit led the field with Incredible India, Alendale and The Best Man in close attendance. Straightening up for the final run, The Best Man could not find a clear path and was pulled out to make a bid on the far side.  Hard Hit, Alendale, Incredible India and The Best Man got into a line inside the last 100 metres with all of them going all out and it was The Best Man which rallied strongly to win by half a length. Alendale finished second, a neck ahead of the late finishing Sugar Deal.  Hard Hit filled the frame another neck away.