Indiarace.com - india's first & foremost horse racing portal

VIJAY VIRAAJ WINS UMRAOLAL GUPTA MEMORIAL CUP

By Madhukar Bhagawan | 06 Dec 2015 | HYDERABAD


Trainer LVR Deshmukh leading Vijay Viraaj (Ajit Singh Up), winner of The Umraolal Gupta Memorial Cup Div-1

L.V.R.Deshmukh trained Vijay Viraaj (Jeremy-Linette / Capricon Stud) outclassed the opponents in the Umraolal Gupta Memorial Cup, Div.I, a 1400 metres race for horses in the highest category. Vijay Viraaj was sent off as the second in demand at 2-1 while City of Dreams had a bigger share of supporters to be the favourite. Vijay Viraaj was settled well to run close to the fence in about fourth position while Azaiba cut the wind followed closely by City of Dreams and Hidden Power. As they turned for home the gap along the inside widened and apprentice Ajit Singh rode Vijay Viraaj through the opening. The gelding stormed ahead to take up the running and stretched out to extend the margen towards the closing stages. City Of Dreams finished second while Decathlon managed to finish third from Black Bolt.

Trainer L. D’Silva was the only trainer to score a brace of winners. His 3 year old filly Whispering Pines (Arazan-Shamaal / Exhiliration Stud) won the Ch V Lakshmi Prasad Rao ‘Sirdesai’ Sircilla Memorial Cup, Div.I. The nine runners were off to an even start and Whispering Pines was nicely settled by Akashya Kumar to run beside the early leader Mount Titlis. As they came into the last 400 metres Mount Titlis was out of gas and started to fall back. Whispering Pines grabbed the lead and kicked on gamely. Dublin and Rock Baby Rock were in a futile chase behind the winner and finished second and third respectively.

D’Silva had started the day with Carolina Moon (Multidimensional-God’s Grace / Usha Stud) in the Kuntala Plate.  Vijay’s Harmony called the shots from the start with Picture Perfect in second. Carolina Moon raced a handy third all the way till the top of the straight. Once on the straight Carolina Moon surged ahead to get to the front and carried on easily till the winning post to complete an encore. Naamdhari, Accelerator and Strengthandbeauty filled the judge’s frame in that order.

Debutante Khan Sahib (Eljohar-Dangerous Belle) from trainer S. S.Faisal Hassan’s stables won the Birthday Girl Plate. Magna Carta was up in front from the start till the last 300 metres.  Khan Sahib along with the top two market fancies Scooby Dooby Doo and Vijay’s Wonder started to gain momentum from the outside almost together and were rushing to grab the lead. Khan Sahib travelled better to win by half a length from Scooby Dooby Doo and Vijay’s Wonder.

Anupam Sharma trained Sarvagnya (Juniper-Ahliyat) justified the favouritism in the Nawab Arshad Ali Khan Memorial Trophy. Sarvagnya settled at the rear of the seven horses field and gave some anxious moments to her supporters. Inside the last 300 metres Big Boss who was on a start to finish bid was still holding on to the lead. Sonic began to improve from the outside and jockey K Mukesh Kumar brought Sarvagnya from the wide outside. The 6 year old flew in from the outside to pull it off by a length from Sonic at the finish. Graceland finished third ahead of Noble Citizen.

K.R.K.Raju trained Kohinoor Thunder (Epicentre-Gracious Bay) made every pole a winning one in the lower division of the Umraolal Gupta Memorial Cup. The 8-1 shot was speedy at start and shot to the lead. Into the home stretch Kohinoor Thunder was still in the lead even as Ashok Chakra, Atlas Star and Movie Moghual came charging from behind. Kohinoor Thunder held on to the lead and made it by a length from Laurel Canyon who came fast from the inside to take the second place. Ashok Chakra and Atlas Star were third and fourth respectively in a close finish.

M.Srinivas Reddy trained Lethal King (Kingda Ka-Lethals Lady) justified the on-money favouritism while scoring an encore in the Bhongir Plate. Improving gradually from behind, Lethal King was in third on entering the straight behind Angel Bell and Masti. The bay colt responded readily when apprentice Abhishek Pawar started to ride out and surged ahead to win it impressively. Bharat Princess improved late to take the second spot ahead of Masti.

The biggest upset of the day came through D.Netto trained Western Express (C P West-Lizzie Borden) in the concluding race of the day. Saving ground along the fence all through the straight Western Express improved to challenge and forged ahead inside the last 100 metres. Mangalyaan and True Pearl came in fast towards the closing stages but failed to collar Western Express and ended up second and third respectively in a close finish.