S.Dominic trained Rafa (Mathematecian-Spanish Whisper / Sans Craintes) made its presence felt at Malakpet, winning the prestigious Godolphin Barb Million – Gr.3 on Monday. The son of Mathematician had won a maidens’ 1100 metres scurry on debut at Bangalore and trainer Dominic decided to bring him down for this seven furlongs Terms race.

 The gelding settled along the fence in a close second or third behind the leader Palisades Park till turning for home. On the straight Rafa tried to sneak in along the rails but Palisades Park shifted in and the opening narrowed down. Jockey T.S.Jodha did not waste time in pulling out Rafa for a clear run from the outside. The gelding responded readily to Jodha’s strong riding and sped past to wrap it up by a comfortable margin. In a close finish for the minor places, Mahathi finished second ahead of Palisades Park and Handy Man. Elysian was withdrawn near the gates.

L.V.R.Deshmukh’s Vijay Vaishnavee (Yeats-Bright Hope) just managed to steal a win in the opener, the Amarnath Gupta Memorial Cup, a nine furlongs race for horses in category II. The filly sent off as the favourite at 12-10 settled in last position while Graceland took a long lead followed by Winjoy, Alameda and Machine Gun. On entering the straight the lead of Graceland was drastically cut down and three horses, Winjoy, Alameda and Vijay Vaishnavee all breathing down on its neck.  Alameda and Vijay Vaishnavee took the fight in the last furlong and the latter managed to hold out by quarter of a length at the finish. Winjoy was third and Graceland fourth.

Trainer K.S.V.Prasad Raju’s Strengthandbeauty (Multidimensional-Burooq) was given a neat ride by Trevor to lift the division I of the Chaitanya Chakram Plate. Travelling in mid field till the top of the straight, Strengthandbeauty flashed on to take it up approaching the distance marker and stretched out impressively. The fight was only for the minor places with Azaiba finishing second in front of Fabulous Jewel. Little Smart Heart finished fourth. Found Money was withdrawn before the start of the race.

Jockey Trevor had earlier displayed his riding skill while successfully driving home S.A.Shehzad Abbas trained Azarenka (Burden Of Proof-Tetisheri / Kunigal Stud) in the lower division. After a good start Azarenka settled well in second when The Blue forged ahead to lead the pack. Inside the last 200 metres Azarenka surged ahead nicely but Kimono came up with a strong challenge. The two fought out the closing stages fiercely and Azarenka held out by a short-head at the wire. The Blue was third and Amethyst fourth.

Lesser fancied Big Boss (Don Micheleto-Shades Of Beauty) from trainer L.D’Silva’s yard won the higher division of the Sir Bruce Plate. The 7 years old got off to a good start from an inward draw and settled to run in third while the speedy Shatakshi and Rajkumar raced to the front. Big Boss creeped up to leaders on the straight and surged ahead even as Shatakshi dropped out of it. While the winner went clear, Red Express and Kireeti fought on to be second and third respectively. Rajkumar finished fourth. Kintyre Princess was withdrawn before the race.

K.S.V.Prasad Raju saddled his second winner of the day through Aston Doulton (Gaswar-Svetlana) in the lower division. Romantic Fire went on a start to finish bid over the 1100 metres scurry and Aston Doulton was with the rear bunch early on after a sluggish start. Inside the last 200 metres Aston Doulton had gradually improved and started to charge from the outside and Altruist made a strong bid between horses. Aston Doulton just managed to collar Romantic Fire in the dying moments of the race and won by a head. Altruist was third another three parts of a length away.

Trainer Anupam Sharma scored a double through Exclusive Wind and Green Striker. Exclusive Wind (Ravel-Calliope) won the sprint for 3 years old horses in category II, the Chilli Girl Plate. Jockey A.Sandesh gave a perfect ride on Exclusive Wind. The chestnut gelding raced in furth while Dream Vision was taken to the front. Inside the last 200 metres Dream Vision along the rails was joined by Without Makeup and Exclusive Wind. The last named travelled the best and drew clear by a length and a half. Dream Vision held on in second from Without Makeup.

Green Striker (Sedgefield-Casanova Green) was taken to the front by K.Mukesh Kumar and the filly made every post a winning one. Lavender chased the winner all through the straight and ended up second. Time Is Luck and Sacrifise finished third and fourth respectively.

L.V.R.Deshmukh earned his double through Astra (Phoenix Tower-Additive / Manjri Stud) in the Pakhal Cup. The 4 year old filly that was quoted at longer odds of 12- 1 was the quickest at start to get to the lead. Leading all the way Astra was safely home by a length from the on-money favourite Apache Gal who came charging towards the closing stages. Major Dundee finished third in front of I Am Rare.