R.H.Sequeira trained Carlton (Diffident-Celestrella / Kunigal Stud) registered a facile victory in the Independence Cup that featured the Independence Day’s races at Hyderabad. Carlton who had not won a race for over a year was strongly supported in the betting to be the joint favourite along with Kolors after a lung opener on the opening day of the season. Carlton settled in about fifth early and started to improve position as they approached the final turn. Carlton grabbed the lead passing the 400 metres board and with jockey Y.S.Srinath riding out maintained a healthy lead till the winning post. That’s My Darling rallied in late to get the better of Kolors for the runner-up berth. O Ms Akhila finished fourth.

D.Netto’s youngster Leading Legend (Multidimensional-Amstel) trounced the other two runners in the K.Mahipathi Rao Memorial Million, the supporting event of the day. Mr.Baahubali was withdrawn from the race and Leading Legend was installed as the overwhelming favourite. Leading right from the start Leading Legend extended the lead on the straight and won with utmost ease. Magna Carta ended up second ahead of Exclusive Wind.

Netto had a good day sending out three winners in a row. Preciosa and Oh Dear were the other two winners from the stable. Preciosa (Green Coast-Coco Chanel) completed a hat-trick in the Grand Parade Cup, a sprint event for horses in category II. The grey filly rushed to the lead as the gates opened and led the pack into the straight. Ashwa Raftar began to challenge inside the last furlong but came under pressure and started to drift out. Preciosa kept a straight course and wrapped it up easily. Green Image was third and Humraaj fourth.

Oh Dear (Mathematician-Dear Liza) scored an encore in the division I of the Blue Wave Plate. Oh Dear took advantage of the innermost draw and slipped into the lead within the first furlong. On the straight Oh Dear was still in the lead and kicked on gamely till the finish. Sacrifice held on to the second place from a late finishing Onk Onk Onk. Manogamini finished fourth.

S.S.Faisal Hassan trained Legacy Machine (Arazan-Risada) bounced back to winning ways in the lower division. After a good jump out Legacy Machine settled in third while Angel Bell and Golden Angel disputed the lead. Approaching the last 300 metres Legacy Machine surged ahead from the outside and travelled well to win by a margin of five lengths. Aware came in late to beat Golden Angel for the second place.

It was a second straight win for Anupam Sharma trained Garib Parwar (Epicentre-Sabakh) in the opener of the day, the Treasure Wind Plate. Garib Parwar went on a start to finish bid and won effortlessly. True Pearl, Save The Nation and Jamie filled the judge’s frame in that order.

Trainer Srinivas Reddy saddled a double through Breezeofthesouth and Dahlois. Breezeofthesouth (Dancing Forever-Queen Of Normandy) went on a start to finish bid over the mile trip and won by a lengthening margin. Jockey Srinath took the 3 year old to the front as the gates opened and leading all the way stretched out easily on the straight. Surprise Party was the best of the beaten brigade. Amethyst finished third and the favourite Elegant Simplicity ended up fourth.

Dahlois (Dancing Forever-Maid Of Artois) justified the favouritism en-route to a maiden win in the division I of the Kohir Plate, the concluding race of the day. Apprentice Abhishek S Pawar took Dahlois to the front right from the start and despite drifting out on the straight maintained the lead till the finish. Canberra finished second. Royal Rajkumari and Golden Phoenix finished third and fourth respectively.