The Hyderabad Monsoon season came to an end on Tuesday with a card of nine races being run. The highlight of the day was a treble each by jockeys P.S.Chouhan and A.M.Tograllu. Trainers L.V.R.Deshmukh and Laxman Singh scored a double each. The end of season awards was given away at the end of the day. Trainer L.V.R.Deshmukh with 27 wins, jockey P.S.Chouhan with 44 wins and apprentice Akshay Kumar with 10 wins were adjudged as champions in their respective categories. The President of India Cup winner Native Knight was declared as the Champion Horse while Laguna Beach with four wins from as many runs was the horse of the season. Dr.M.A.M. Ramaswamy emerged as the leading individual owner. Dr. & Mrs.Vijay Mallya representing United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders Limited ended up as the leading joint owners. M/s.Vijay Racing and Farms, represented by Mr.Vijay Kumar Gupta & Susheel Kumar Gupta and M/s Pratap Racecitment Pvt. Ltd., represented by the estate of late D.Pratap Chander Reddy & Ashish Bajaj were the leading Hyderabad based joint owners.   

Laguna Beach (Phoenix Tower-Rio Anna) made it almost a start to finish affair over the grueling 2400 metres in the Nawab Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Cup, on the concluding day’s races of the monsoon season. The 3 year old filly trained by L.V.R.Deshmukh has had an incredible monsoon, winning all her four starts. Jockey P.S.Chouhan who has partnered the filly in all her wins took her to the front within the first furlong of the race. Laguna Beach set a good pace followed by Golden Rule, Symbol of Victory, Drayton, Kohinoor Punch and Kohinoor Thunder as they headed past the half way stage. Nearing the final turn Symbol of Victory and Golden Rule made a swift move to close the gap on Laguna Beach. Into the home stretch Laguna Beach picked up momentum to raise a resolute gallop and stretched out easily. Golden Rule headed past Symbol of Victory inside the last 200 metres but lost out the runner-up berth to the late finishing Kohinoor Thunder. Play The Music was withdrawn before the race.

Plenipotent (Iffraaj-Beldon Hill) from the stables of L.V.R.Deshmukh scored an overwhelming win over its five opponents in the Dundoo Ekambar Memorial Cup, a seven furlongs race for horses in the highest category. The 4 year old decimated the field to set a new course record over the 1400 metres distance which had stood in the name of Racing Ahead for about seven weeks. Lumiere Blanche called the shots from the start followed closely by Plenipotent. On entering the straight for the final two furlongs the ‘money back’ favourite Plenipotent forged ahead smoothly and lengthened its strides without the rider P.S.Chouhan having to move his limbs. Young Soldier finished second in front of Ocean Side. Lumiere Blanche ended up fourth.

Aware (Epecentre-Alero) from Sk Kassam’s yard scored an encore in the lower division of the Ivanjica Cup. Jockey P.S.Chouhan took the chestnut colt to the front at start and led all the way. Hometown Hero got stronger in the last 100 metres and closed the gap fast but failed to collar Aware by a quarter of a length. Handsome Hunk and Santa Monica finished third and fourth respectively.

M.Sathyanarayana trained Street Magic (Mathematician-Galway) pulled off a big upset in the higher division. Jockey S.Shiva Kumar took Street Magic to the front quickly at start and played ‘catch me if you can’ on the final stretch. Queen of the Stars finished second ahead of Citi Supreme.

A good touch on K.S.V.Prasad Raju trained Star Prospect was pulled off successfully in the lower division of the Elite Zone Plate. The 6 year old which had not won a race for over a year received strong support during race time to close as the favourite at 18-10. Rohini Star was speedy at start and went to the front to lead. Star Prospect improved gradually along the inner rails to move to striking position as they rounded the final bend. Into the last 400 metres Star Prospect got stronger to challenge Rohini Star. The two matched strides till the last 50 metres and Rohini Star lost out to Star Prospect in the closing stages. Sugar Deal and Merry Maid finished third and fourth respectively. Cascading Glory was a non starter in the race.

K.Satheesh trained Ice Barrier (Itaquere Power-Choose Wisely) won the Onnu Onnu Onnu Plate from start to finish. Moving quickly from an outward draw Ice Barrier headed to the inner fence to lead the field. Princess Cruise improved gradually to be a close second as they went past the 600 metres board. On the top of the straight Princess Cruise came up with a strong challenge with jockey Nilesh Rawal pulling out the stick. Jockey B.Dileep on Ice Barrier also kept riding out and it was Satheesh’s filly that stretched out to win by a little over three lengths. Tripple Eight finished third.

Jockey A.M.Tograllu scored a treble, one for trainer M.V.Narayana Rao and a double for laxman Singh. Narayana Rao’s Flower of Temba (Emerald Cat-Cordon Rose) scored its maiden win in the opener of the day, the higher division of the Bhagat Singh Plate. The speedy Dazzling Princess set out in front over the 1100 metres dash, followed by Flower of Temba. Into the home stretch the ‘Princess’ had a lead of over three lengths from Flower of Temba. Jockey A.M.Tograllu started to ride out vigorously and the filly responded well to close the gap and flash past to be half a length ahead of Dazzling Princess at the wire.

Laxman Singh saddled a double through Flames of Forest and Policy Maker, both maiden victories. Flames of Forest (Mudeer-Ganga Divine) won the Cape Knight Plate. Just Once set out on a start to finish mission. Flames of Forest and Golden Missile were in chase all the way into the straight. With about 300 metres left from the finish Flames of Forest and Golden Missile got in a line with Just Once and the three fought out a fierce contest. Flames of Forest surged ahead inside the last 50 metres as Just Once tired out and held on from Golden Missile to win by a ‘head’. Goldie was troublesome near the gates and was withdrawn.

Policy Maker (Home Affairs-Admiration) justified the favouritism in the Forest Treasure Plate, the concluding race of the day. Chocolate Soldier led the field followed closely by Greek Star and Policy Maker improving to be third on the outside as they traversed the final turn. Into the final run Policy Maker went past the two in front with ease and stayed well. Greek Star rallied on to finish second. Graceland and Musk Mellon filled the frame in that order.

TURF NEWS:

*The Stewards of the Hyderabad Race Club have suspended jockey G.Sai Vamshi for a period of one year for not permitting his mount Pakat Pakat Pakat to run on merits in the ninth race on Monday.

*The first four days of the Winter Meeting will be run on the Monsoon Track at Hyderabad.