The Veteran Coral Gables silenced his critics once again, beating the five rivals less than half his age, to lift the A.P. Governor’s Cup, the feature event of Sunday’s racing at Hyderabad. Celestial Son from Bangalore, after his hat-trick at his home centre, was widely expected to win the race and started as the favourite at evens. The local crowd stood solidly behind Coral Gables which saw the nine-year-old closing on top at 18 to 10.

Jockey Harish preferred to settle Coral Gables in the last position till the final bend with the initial pace being quite fast. Aurora Aurealis led from the start and brought the field into view on the straight. Celestial Son started to close in with Talisker also progressing well on the far side. As the field crossed the distance post, Coral Gables accelerated in tremendous fashion to win the race hands down. Aurora Aurealis held on in second while Talisker pipped Celestial Son for the third spot.

The penotrometer reading recorded an hour and a half before the start of the race was 4.45 cms. A quick thunderburst measuring about 19 mm before the races took the reading to 6.85 cms. Nevertheless, it was a lucrative day for favourite hunters as the first seven races of the day went their way.

Trainer D. Netto combined with jockey S. John scored a popular double. Colette, who had lost narrowly in her earlier outing, made amends and shed her maiden ranks with a start to finish effort, winning effortlessly in the higher division of the Sangareddy Plate. Temple Bells too won by a large margin in the Byerly Brigade Cup. Overtaking the early leader Man on Fire, on top of the straight, Temple Bells stretched out with ease. The fight for the minor placing continued with King of Hebashe covering ground to finish second ahead of Kohinoor Star and Man on Fire in a three way finish.

Prasad Raju’s Blast in Class showed his supremacy in the Basalat Jah Memorial Cup, a race for 3-year-olds and upwards in the highest category. He moved well from a fourth position up the straight to overtake Vijaymarg and win. The top weighted Maximise began to warm up late and finished second.

The well-supported Pleasing Display from Shehzad Abbas’s yard gave some anxious moments early in the race as he raced behind in about 8th or 9th till the final bend in the higher division of the Ivanjica Cup. As the field turned up for home, P.S. Chouhan manoeuvred his mount through the field for a comfortable win, running true to his name.

Alcohology had finished ahead of Toofan Express when they had met barely a week ago. On that occasion M. Krishna had ridden Alcohology. With Suraj Narredu astride, Alcohology was sent into the race as the firm favourite. Toofan Express was ignored in the betting probably because M. Krishna was on it. Going into the race, Menlo Park held the forward position till the last 100 metres but gave up when Toofan Express unleashed a run on the far side. Prohibition impressed when he slipped in along the rails to finish second. Alcohology ran listless throughout the race.

Rainbow Fog, who had a lung opener early in the season, won with a fluent run in the lower division of the Sangareddy Plate. Green Mist finished second ahead of Kohinoor Mystic and Tell me a Tale.

Adorna, who was found to be a bit sluggish till the final bend in the Divine Dreams Plate, run over 1800 metres, improved position to win the race.

India Gate found himself in front, from the start in the concluding race of the day, the Subramanya Bharati Plate, and held on gamely to score an upset. Queen of Sheeba rallied in late to finish second.