Ananth Vatsalya trained Kohinoor Wish (Gaswar-Blue Sonata) proved yet again that he is a true sprinter while defying the back breaking weight of 64.5 kilograms in the Stewards Cup which was the feature race of the eight races card at Hyderabad on Monday. The performance of Kohinoor Wish is even more adorable as the 6 year old carried the heavy impost on a going that was soft. Days Of Thunder set out in front followed by Vijays Conquer, Proof, Twentyfive Pips and Kohinoor Wish followed by the other three contenders. Jockey S.John made sure that he didn’t punish Kohinoor Wish and saved him closest to the inner fence till entering the final straight. Vijays Conquer moved to the front on top of the straight with Kohinoor Wish joining alongside and Proof going wide under pressure. John kept riding out and Kohinoor Wish responded brilliantly to get the better of Vijays Conquer by three parts of a length. Proof moved back towards the inner ground to finish third. Anacostia was a non-starter in the race.

Jockeys Suraj Narredu and P.S.Chouhan who dominated the races a day earlier could win only one race each. The two saddle artists were involved in a stirring duel in the P.M.Bokdawala Memorial Cup, where Palm Springs (Placerville-Shalaya) ridden by Suraj just managed to scrape through from Magical Spell. A hat-trick performer during the Winter here, L.D’Silva trained Palm Springs was back on the home track after rejuvenating at Bangalore. After a good start, Suraj settled Palm Springs to run second behind Nano Pride. Crown Castle was in third position while Magical Spell rallied in fourth. Approaching the distance post Palm Springs had gone ahead with Magical Spell about two lengths behind. P.S.Chouhan started to work hard on Magical Spell and the filly began to gain ground. In a pulsating finish the two flashed past the winning post ‘locked together’ and the magic eye gave the verdict in favour of Palm Springs.

Chouhan piloted L.V.R.Deshmukh trained Racing Ahead (Shamardal-Rah Wa) to a fine encore in the Turf Club Cup. Starting out from the outermost draw, Racing Ahead moved swiftly to head the six horses. On entering the home stretch Racing Ahead kept the momentum going and ran true to its name. Sherman Oaks headed to be second inside the last 200 metres and chased the winner all the way from there.

Trainer S.S.Faisal Hassan saddled a double with The Challenge and Sugar Deal. The Challenge (Game Plan-On The Big Screen) surprised everyone in the Pleasure Hunt Plate. Racing in fourth till approaching the last 600 metres The Challenge hurried between horses as they rounded the final turn and drew away to give apprentice Akshay Kumar his first win. All The Fun, Rob Roy and Midnight Beauty filled the frame in that order.

‘Better late than ever’, as the saying goes, Sugar Deal (Sussex-Sugar Mine) which had remained a maiden even after 58 runs, finally unsaddled in the winner’s enclosure in the lower division of the Best of Bold Plate. Royal Bird which was on a start to finish bid was beaten to second by Sugar Deal in the shadow of the winning post.  Improving from the rear Sugar Deal moved to be third behind Royal Bird and Itsy Bitsy as they entered the straight. Picking up speed in the last 100 metres Sugar Deal flashed past Royal Bird. Flower Drum was third another two lengths away.

Donald Netto trained In Reality (European-Grand Destiny) scored a stunning upset in the higher division. Chasing the leader Nano Tribute all the way from the start, In Reality surged ahead and drew clear. The race favourite The Best Man came in late to finish second in front of Icelandic.

Trainer Laxman Singh and jockey A.M.Tograllu combined to score a double with Whats Up and Rocking Racer. Whats Up (Mathematician-Lyricist) came up with a brilliant turn of foot to earn its first win in the Sardar Patel Plate, the opening race of the day. After a rather slow start where it lost about three lengths, the filly improved gradually along the inner rails to get to third position on entering the straight behind Fair And Square and Lips Locking. Pulled left to make its bid, Whats Up came with a flourish to beat Fair And Square. Lips Locking finished third.

Rocking Racer (Mull of Kintyre-Esoteric) which had found one better in its previous four outings finally came good with a start to finish effort in the Kalamaris Plate. Rushing through to take charge quickly at start, Rocking Racer maintained a good lead all the way till the winning post. Star Experience chased the winner all the way. Allendale warmed up late to finish third.