Pesi Shroff trained Jeremiah (Jeremy-Acciacatura), a got abroad grey gelding bred at Sohna Stud, slammed the opposition en-route to a popular victory in the Vijay Textiles Deccan Derby (Grade I) on the monsoon track at Hyderabad. The stylish youngster is owned by Mr.Haresh N.Mehta & Mr.Manav H.Mehta Representing M/S. Rohan Bloodstock Pvt.Ltd., Mr.Rakesh R.Jhunjhunwala & Mr.Jaydev M Mody Representing M/S. J.M.Livestock Pvt.Ltd. Young Zervan who had ridden his first classic win on Amelia in the Fillies’ in Bangalore, rode Jeremiah with great aplomb.

It was an occasion to rejoice for the winning trainer Pesi Shroff. He made a clean sweep of all the three classics for 3 year olds on this track, a feat which has been achieved only by Mr.R.R.Byramji and Mr.S.Ganapathy so far. He won the Fillies’ with Amelia and the Colts’ Championship Stakes with Acclaimed.

Jeremiah came to Malakpet after shedding his maiden ranks at Pune, just about twenty days ago over a 2000 metres trip. “Jeremiah’s (win) arguably, was the most impressive manner of victory for the season so far”, mentioned Mr.Mahendra Mallya – racing correspondent of India Race – in his post race observation in his columns. He had also foreseen a bright career ahead for the youngster. How true that was, the son of Jeremy slammed the opposition, to win the richly endowed Deccan Derby. Commenting on Jeremiah’s win, Pesi said, “he has proved that he ‘stays’ well. We are now targeting him for the Indian Derby”.

Amistad, the stable companion of Jeremiah rushed to the front early and donned the role of a pace maker. Fastest Finger tracked the leader in second as they passed the half way mark, followed closely by Lucy Diamond, Palm Springs, Strike the Stars, Jeremiah, Charlatan, Scenic Warrior, Isn’t She Special, Racing Ahead, Vocation and Arrogant Approach in that order, with the field of twelve spaced out in about eight lengths. Turning for home, Fastest Finger forged ahead to take over from Amistad and Charlatan also moved up quickly. With about 300 metres left Charlatan surged to the lead and Jeremiah galloped strongly to stake its claim. The two galloped together for a short distance and Pesi’s ward displayed his brilliance by leaving Charlatan behind by a length and a half at the finish. Racing Ahead finished third over six lengths adrift while Arrogant Approach filled the judge’s frame. 

Laxman Singh trained Vijay’s Conquer (Placerville-Queen to Conquer) lifted the Turf Authorities Cup, a 1200 metres sprint for horses in the highest category. The grey, Silver Crown was speedy at start, hitting the front and settled well close to the rails. Odalis was about two lengths behind and Vijays Conquer in third another two behind. Sweet Candy was in about sixth position even as the field entered the straight for the final run. Silver Crown held the forward position till approaching the distance marker. Odalis came under pressure when asked to quicken and veered out. Vijays Conquer in the meanwhile began to gain speed and forged ahead with a resolute gallop. Sweet Candy covered ground from behind at a rapid pace and came up strongly but failed to collar the Vijays Conquer by a quarter of a length.

Trainer Donald Netto who had a lucrative Tuesday, continued his winning streak with a back to back double through Power Drive and Galiat. Both th winners were ridden by Dashrath Singh. Power Drive (Ajaad-Desert Flame) scored an encore in the Mumbai Cup, a sprint for horses in category II. As the dozen runners took off, Beau Ideal showed good speed to shoot to the lead from the innermost draw. Nano Belle was a close second and the ‘on money’ favourite Golconda King was quick to join them from draw twelve. Power Drive had settled well in fourth behind the trio. As they started to take the final turn, Beau Ideal was still in the lead and Power Drive had moved up places to be right behind the leader. Inside the last furlong, jockey Dashrath Singh powered his way on Netto’s filly to race past Beau Ideal and win by three parts of a length. Nano Belle finished on being third, while the favourite Golconda King was a disappointing fourth.

Galiat (Mull of Kintyre-Brazilia) lifted the Chennai Cup in a convincing manner. Kohinoor Thunder set the pace over the mile trip, with Winjoy a close second all the way. Galiat raced close to the fence in about fifth or sixth. Entering the final straight Winjoy was the first to take the initiative and rushed to take the lead. Galiat was pulled left, away from the fence to challenge Winjoy from the outside and with Dashrath Singh beginning to ride out, the 3 year old gelding took charge with a furlong left and stretched out to spare three lengths at the finish. Winjoy finished second. Sherman Oaks took the third spot ahead of Okai Okai Okai.

The speedy Marquise (Sharp Attack-Albuquerque) from trainer Faiyaz Shaikh’s yard sprinted away to win the Bangalore Cup. Shooting to the lead from the centre of the track, Marquise cut the wind with Naughty Gal in second and Ace Star rallying in third. Marquise brought the field into view on the straight and accelerated well to keep going. Naughty Gal which tracked Marquise all the way, began to close up inside the last 100 metres but failed to collar the winner and finished second. Ice Lolly and Ace Star finished third and fourth respectively.    

Roses in Bloom (Multidimensional-Roses in the Snow) from S.A.Shehzad Abbas’s nursery scored an easy victory in the Commanche Cup. Machine Gun led the field of seven right from the start. Roses in Bloom which was about two off the fence initially, moved closer to the fence, in about fourth position. As they rounded the final turn jockey A.Imran Khan guided his mount Roses in Bloom to take the inner path and with two furlongs left on the straight, pulled out, to challenge Machine Gun from the outside. The filly responded readily to take charge soon and stretched out easily. Machine Gun finished second and Rio Rojo was another six lengths behind.

Trainer Sk Kassam’s youngster, Aware (Epicentre-Alero) sprang a surprise in the Mrs.Lakshmi Bhupal Reddy Memorial Cup. Kianoosh and Globetrotter disputed the lead from the start with the race favourite Winds of Victory ralling around them in third. Aware raced in about eighth position along the rails as they headed past the 600 metres marker. Turning for home, Aware took the gap along the rails and improved quickly to get to third as they entered the straight. Globetrotter rushed to the front on top of the straight and Winds of Victory started to challenge strongly. Jockey S.John in the meanwhile brought his mount Aware between the two and skipped away to open a big gap. Winds of Victory held on to finish second from the fast finishing Greek Star.

Last outing winner Star Engagement and The Best Man shared the favoritism in the Bhagyanagar Cup, both closing at 3-1. S.S.Faisal Hassan trained Star Engagement (Diffident-Star Board) justified the flow of money by scoring an encore. Ponte Verdi shot to the front at start with Star Engagement in chase about two lengths adrift. Inside the last 400 metres Ponte Verdi was still in the lead but was failing to accelerate further. Jockey A.Ashhad Asbar started to work hard on Star Engagement and the chestnut filly gained ground rapidly to overhaul the leader and win by a length. Ponte Verdi stayed on to finish second while The Best Man came with a late run on the wide outside to finish third.

Laxman Singh trained Lumiere Blanche (Gaswar-Dancing Flame) scored an upset win in the opener, the Kolkata Cup. The grey, Lumiere Blanche set out on a start to finish bid with the other two greys, Secret Angel and Al Sarraah in close attendance. Inside the last 300 metres Lumiere Blanche kicked on gamely. The favourite Santa Monica was asked for an effort by Suraj Narredu but she failed to impress and finished third behind Secret Angel. Al Sarraah finished fourth.  

K.S.V.Prasad Raju trained Bold Attack (Sharp Attack-Tarq Asmi) which had won its last start over a five furlongs dash was completely neglected in the betting, in the Tanasha Plate, the concluding race of the day. Showing plenty of speed at start, Bold Attack headed to lead the field and was a clear five lengths in front of the nearest challenger inside the last 300 metres. Ceremonious began to pick up speed in the last 200 metres and inched closer with every stride. Camacho Speed also gathered momentum and the three went past the winning post locked together. Bold Attack held on by a ‘short head’ from Ceremonious. Camacho Speed was a ‘head’ behind. Princely Right was also moving fast on the wide outside to be fourth, another three parts of a length behind.

For the professionals, trainers,Laxman Singh and Donald Netto scored a double, while jockeys A.M.Tograllu and Dashrath Singh scored a brace each.