A card of nine events marked the Derby Eve races at Hyderabad. The feature of the day was the running of the Melbourne Racing Club Trophy which is traditionally held during the Derby week at Malakpet. Bangalore raider Silken Touch scored a facile win in the race. The day however belonged to trainer Donald Netto who saddled a quadruple. Two of them were piloted by Western India based jockey Dashrath Singh, while the other two by local ace A.Imran Khan. Trainer K.Satheesh and jockey Trevor Patel were the other professionals who scored a double each.       

Silken Touch (Burden of Proof-Track Charm) was ridden confidently by Trevor Patel to lift the Melbourne Racing Club Trophy. A field of four horses lined up to vie for the exquisite trophy that is traditionally donated by the Melbourne Racing Club every year. Sulaiman Attaollahi trained Silken Touch was the only outsider, coming down from Bangalore. As the field settled for the seven furlongs trip, Nasheeta spearheaded the quartet, followed closely by Silken Touch, Brahmani and Vijay’s Pride. As they neared the last 600 metres the four raced in the same order with just about three and a half lengths covering them. As they appeared on the straight for the final run, Trevor loosened the grip on Silken Touch and the 5 year old mare owned by Dr. & Mrs. Vijay Mallya progressed into a fluent motion, to head past Nasheeta near the distance post. Silken Touch won the race in a fast timing which was marginally slower than the course record. Vijay’s Pride snatched the second place from Nasheeta in the shadow of the winning post. Brahmani was tailed off last.

Dazzling Empress (Case Law-Access Speed), a 4 year old filly from S.S.Faisal Hassan’s stables completed a fine hat-trick in the lower division of the G.Sudhakar Reddy Memorial Cup. Apprentice Akshay Kumar, who has had a brilliant start to his career this monsoon, brought the 10-8 ‘on’ favourite Dazzling Empress from an outward draw to be with the leader Best Pal and dispute the lead. Power Planet and Prince of Arabia tracked the duo about four lengths behind as they approached the final turn. On top of the straight Dazzling Empress took charge with ease and stayed well till the finish. Prince of Arabia failed to get to the leader despite Suraj Narredu’s strong urgings. Power Planet improved late to go ahead of Prince of Arabia for the second place.

A Bullish trainer Donald Netto saddled a quadruple through Ancillary, Winds And Waves, Big Move and Always Bullish. Always Bullish (Storm Trooper-Blue Sonata), a runner-up to hat-trick performer Racing Ahead in its last outing, was sent into the higher division of the G.Sudhakar Reddy Memorial Cup as the firm favourite at a short price of ‘half money’. Netto’s ward settled well to track the leader Our Mascot, maintaining a safe distance of about two lengths. Inside the straight Always Bullish started to pick up momentum and sped past Our Mascot. Prince Prashant finished third. The saddle of Anacostia shifted back during the race and dropped the rider on top of the straight.   

Ancillary (Lucifer Sam-Auxiliary) scored an authoritative win in the Almanac Cup. The speedy Rajkumar hit the front as is his style of running and brought the field of eight into the home stretch with a lead of about three lengths. Queen of Court was tracking Rajkumar in second and Ancillary waiting to strike in third. Imran Khan started to get busy on Ancillary and the filly responded instantly to take charge passing the distance post. Riverdale warmed up late from the rear to finish second, a length in front of Rajkumar. Queen of Court filled the frame.

Big Move (Epicentre-All Heart) just managed to scrape through and register her maiden win in the Kitty Bank Cup. Big Move got to the front early and soon settled in second when the speedy Ranjha decided to take it up. Heading towards the last four furlongs Big Move took over the running and came into the straight with a lead of over four lengths. Golden Flash tried to offer some challenge but failed to bridge the gap. Just when it looked like Big Move would maintain the lead to the finish, came the top weighted Kohinoor Punch from the rear with an erratic run. Despite drifting wide inside the last 100 metres, Kohinoor Punch closed the gap at rapid pace but fell short by quarter of a length. Looking For Love was a faraway third. See My Style was a non-starter in the race.

Winds And Waves (Sussex-Venice) which had been disqualified in its earlier run after running erratic, behaved well under Dashrath Sing to shed its maiden status in the higher division of the Paradis Plate, a 5 1/2 furlongs dash for maiden 3 year olds. Fair And Square was in the lead from the start with Military Belle in second and Winds And Waves settled well in third. Inside the last 300 metres Winds And Waves went to the front readily and drew away to win by five lengths. Fair And Square held on to the second place by half a length from Military Belle.

R.H.Sequeira trained Komo Komo Komo (Ivory Touch-Primera) scored an encore in the Sweet Memories Plate. Jumping out well from draw ten in the field of eleven, Komo Komo Komo moved quickly to join Mukhtar in front. The two matched strides till the last 250 metres. Trevor got busy on Sequeira’s ward and the bay gelding quickened readily to shoot ahead. Mukhtar stayed on in second while Big Boss took the third place. August Kranti filled the frame.

Trainer K.Satheesh saddled a double through Dream Deal in the opener and Ground Crew in the concluding race. Deal Maker (Juniper-Star Gold) scored an upset win in the lower division of the Paradis Plate. The youngster hit the front at start and made every pole a winning one to score its maiden win. Golden Missile and Musk Melon finished second and third respectively in a close finish amongst them.

Ground Crew (Hurricane State-Deep In The Jungle) made it a start to finish affair under B.Dileep in the Red Rufus Plate. Stolen Date was in chase all through the 1400 metres trip but failed to collar the winner despite the rider Dashrath Singh giving his best on the filly. Cannon Ten rallied to finish third. Maharadhi was a non-starter in the race.