Young trainer M Srinivas Reddy was all smiles when he led in his first classic winner Dare To Dream (Oath-Starynessey / Pratap Stud) in the Deccan Bookmakers Golconda 2000 Guineas – Gr.2 at Malakpet on Monday. Western India based jockey Dashrath Singh judged the pace well and timed his move nicely to let the connections really “Dare To Dream”. ‘Seenu’ as Reddy is fondly called by those who are close to him had two runners among the dozen runners for the second classic of the season. Veloz among them cornered the majority support being the favourite at 2-1 while Dare To Dream was a longshot at 12-1. It was Dare To Dream in the silks of the local owner Col.S.B.Nair who romped home by a good four lengths while Veloz could only muster a third place behind Coriolis.

“I am delighted to lead in my first classic winner,” said the trainer. “I am thankful to my boss for all the success that is coming my way,” he added referring to his mentor, trainer L.V.R.Deshmukh.  

Coriolis set a strong pace followed closely by Nerves of Steel (ex Silver Phantom). Your Royal Majesty was in third and Dare To Dream travelling in about sixth position. Coriolis continued to lead entering the home stretch and Dare To Dream who had improved to be fourth at the bend was being given a free run from the outside. Jockey Dashrath Singh who is known for his hard riding drove the son of Oath and the bay colt flashed past Coriolis passing the distance post. While Dare To Dream extended the winning margin to four lengths, Coriolis held on boldly to the second place from Veloz who was gaining ground from the rear. Cornwallis finished fourth.

As if it was an indication of the turn of events that was to come, trainer M.Srinivas Reddy had led in Greek Star (Sedgefield-Maid of The Mist) in the first race of the day, the Delhi Race Club Trophy. In a slow pace set by Vijaykeerti over the 2200 metres, Greek Star raced second followed by the other two, Snow Bird and Super Duper. Into the last 300 metres Greek Star forged ahead to take charge and was challenged by Snow Bird who had a back breaking weight of 64 kilograms on her back. Despite Suraj Narredu’s best effort Snow Bird, the ‘weight’ effect took its toll and Dasrath Singh had his way on Greek Star.     

K.Satheesh trained Super Falcon (Rock of Gibraltor-Walk Beside Me) won the Hyderabad Cup. Setting off in the lead from the start Super Falcon was briefly headed by Green Jewel in the early stages. In the final run Super Falcon kicked on gamely under Deep Shanker to win comfortably. Kohinoor Punch came in late to beat Green Jewel for the second place close home.

Trainer Anupam Sharma saddled a quadruple on the big day through Bharat King, Sarvagnya, Amazing Power and Symbol of Choice. Jockey K.Mukesh Kumar who also piloted four winners partnered Sharma in the last three and rode one for Zoheb Shaikh.

Bharat King (Hymn-Broken Silence) won the Own Vision Plate, a 1100 metres dash for 2 year old maiden horses. Sent off as the hot favourite at half money, Bharat King tracked the leader Angel Bell from the outside till entering the home stretch and surged ahead passing the 400 metres board. While Bharat King kicked on under P.Ajeeth Kumar, Ryuzaki galloped along the rails to beat Limitation for the second place. War Dancer finished fourth.

Sarvagnya and Amazing Power were the surprises from the stables. Sarvagnya (Juniper-Ahliyat) beat the ‘money back’ favourite Vijays Victory in the Zurbaran Plate. Going into the lead early Sarvagnya was followed closely by Vijays Victory. The two came away from the rest on the straight and Sarvagnya kept the momentum going till the winning post to win by a length. Jaz Elle was third another eight lengths away.

Amazing Power (Chatham Strait-Yvresse) scored an encore in the lower division of the Bonzer Cup. The favourite Ein Ein Ein had taken charge inside the last 200 metres after disputing the lead with Olympic Gold. Amazing Power started to improve from behind gradually inside the last 300 metres and flashed on with a flourish to deny a win for the on-money favourite Ein Ein Ein by three parts of a length. Golden Adagio and Spirited filled the judge’s frame in that order.

Symbol of Choice (Roi Maudit-Silver Grey) who had found one better in her previous three starts had a no-contest while scoring a maiden win in the lower division of the Crack Regiment Plate, the concluding race of the day. Moving quickly towards the inside from an outward draw, Symbol of Choice set off on a start to finish bid and drew away by over nine lengths on the straight. For the record Pour Vous, Blossom and True Pearl made it to the board in that order.

Jockey K.Mukesh Kumar rode Zoheb Shaikh trained Blue Eyed Babe (Kheley-Java Lady) to a maiden victory in the higher division. Racing prominently with the front group till the last 300 metres Blue Eyed Babe forced her way between Full of Life and Racing Ikon and galloped readily till the winning post. Racing Ikon fought on with Aston Doulton to finish second.

Laxman Singh trained Natalia (Bahamian Bounty-Night Dancer) justified the favouritism in the higher division of the Bonzer Cup. Amazon Weapon was in the lead close to the fence with Natalia making her bid from the outside. Inside the last 200 metres Natalia began to lug out but still kept up the momentum to head past and go away to win by 4 1/2 lengths. Amazon Princess came in late to get the better of Amazing Princess for the second place while Rob Roy also charged in to finish a close fourth.