The Hyderabad Monsoon Races started off with nine races framed for the first day. The opening day’s honours went to jockey Imran Chisty who booted home four winners, three of them for trainer M.Srinivas Reddy and the fourth to his mentor L.V.R.Deshmukh. On a day dominated by horses in the money, five of them firm favourites and three being second in demand, trainer Donald Netto managed to drop a bomb-shell through Sprint Saloni which paid a staggering Rs.1064 for a fiver at the totalizators.

The day’s main event, the S.S.Cardmaster Memorial Cup was won in a common canter by Shehzad Abbas trained Carlton (Diffident-Celestrella) sporting the colours of Dr.& Mrs.Vijay Mallya . The 3 year old bay colt who had just returned from Bangalore after his ‘summer’ vacation was sent in as money back favourite among the nine horses in the field. Confidently held back in about sixth position by Suraj Narredu, Carlton was pulled left to come around the horses as they came in for the final run. Carlton was literally on cruise mode while heading past with Suraj not having to move a nerve. The youngster is in top form and should be followed till beaten. Rio Rojo beat the rest to take the second place.

Imran Chisty who started off the season with a quadruple lifted the lower division with M. Srinivas Reddy trained Desire (Glory of Dancer-Another Star).  Racing in fifth early on Desire improved to be a close third even as Alameda took the initiative on entering the final straight. Alameda tried to keep going but was no match when Imran Chisty rode out Desire in the last 250 metres. The filly went clear towards the finish to romp home by over four lengths.

Imran Chisty successfully piloted L.V.R.Deshmukh’s Magical Spell (Phoenix Tower-Goodness Gracious) to justify the short price in the C.R.Bhoopal Memorial Cup. MEG had taken charge from the leader Pacific Star approaching the distance post. Magical Spell started to gain ground from the outside and Santa Monica also in chase close behind. Imran Chisty rode out Magical Spell to head past the relentless MEG and finished a clear three quarters of a length in front of Santa Monica at the wire. MEG was third another length and three quarters behind.

The other two wins of Imran Chisty were through Srinivas Reddy’s wards Dad’s Dollar and Veloz in the two divisions of the Guntur Plate which were six furlongs sprints for 3 year old maiden horses. Veloz (C P West-Fathom Five) who had taken a beating from Rani on its debut run in winter was sent off as the second in demand at 2-1. Positioning well in second behind the leader Rosemonde as they approached the last 600 metres, the bay rig responded readily to Chisty’s urgings on the straight and stretched out easily to spare over four lengths at the finish. Rosemonde finished on in second place while the race favourite Khoshgel ended up a tame third.

 The piping hot favourite Dad’s Dollar (Phoenix Tower-Dancerllon) which had found one better in its last two starts shed its maiden status authoritatively. Dad’s Dollar was racing behind the leader Roma Royal who tried to make a start to finish affair. When Dad’s Dollar was brought alongside with a challenge inside the last 200 metres Roma Royal just could not match the strides and meekly surrendered the lead. Ivanova rallied on to finish third. 

Trainer Laxman Singh and apprentice S.S.Tanwar teamed up to score a double with Dance To Destiny in the Ananthapur Plate and Homely Helo in the division II of the Subhash Chandra Bose Plate.

Dance To Destiny (Ikhtyar-Maya) continued to dominate as a classy sprinter with its second win from as many starts. Eight youngsters lined up for the five furlongs scurry and Dance To Destiny enjoyed the most support in the betting with the price shortening to 10-6 ‘on’ at race time. Smartest out of the gates, the filly hit the front and led the field by a clear two lengths with Symbol of Glory in second. Into the last two furlongs the favourite extended well under apprentice S.S.Tanwar to leave the rest stranded behind. Western Express got the better of Symbol of Glory for the second place.

The 6 year old Homely Helo (Diffident-Girl From Ascot) who has hit a purple patch picked up from where he had left in winter to score a hat-trick.  Leading the field right from the word ‘go’ Homely Helo was tracked all the way by Arudra and when challenged inside the final furlong successfully thwarted that effort to pull it off by half a length. Lady of Grace finished third in front of Golden Adagio.  

Desert Bloom (Hymn-Broken Silence) from the stables of Anupam Sharma struck form to win the division I of the Subhash Chandra Bose Plate. Spurting ahead to lead the field right from the start Desert Bloom kept kicking on when Sporting Star applied pressure in the last 200 metres and stayed on to win by three parts of a length. A Horizontal Urge ended up third.

 D.Netto trained Sprint Saloni (Epicentre-Premier Thrill) scored a stunning upset in the Fond Hope Plate, paying a dividend of Rs.1064 for a fiver. Showing good speed at start Sprint Saloni rushed to the front from an outward draw and made every post a winning one. Overlook was in futile chase right through the last two furlongs and its stable companion Colorful Trip flashed on late into the reckoning but failed to collar the winner by half a length to be the runner-up.