The winter season at Malakpet, Hyderabad came to a close on Thursday with a long drawn card of twelve races being framed for the extra day of races. The highlights of the day were an astonishing hat-trick by Poll Promise and doubles by trainers K.Satheesh and Donald Netto and Jockeys C.P.Boppanna, Deepak Singh, Mukesh Kumar and Md.Sameeruddin.

K.Satheesh trained Poll Promise (Noverre-Lightening Speed) continued its dream run with a third straight win in the division I of the Sergent Major Plate. The 5 year old mare took a good start from the outermost draw and got to the rails quickly in fourth behind Dolce, Rock Heights and Penumatcha’s Pride. Rounding the final turn Poll Promise slipped in from the inside and shot to the lead on entering the straight.  Poll Promise extended the lead and won unchallenged with apprentice C.P.Bopanna left with not much hard work. For the record Rebellion, Canberra and Rock Heights filled the frame in that order.    

 D.Netto trained Oh Dear (Mathematecian-Dear Lisa) that had a marvelous monsoon season with four wins and a second from five starts, was back to winning ways in the division I of the Havoc Plate. The filly was smartly out from the outermost draw and with plenty of early speed got to the inner rails to lead the field. Striding out effortlessly Oh Dear ridden by Deepak Singh stayed clear of City Of Dreams who made a vain bid inside the last furlong. Italian Cypress and Rubyonrails finished third and fourth respectively.   

In the lower division M.Sathyanarayana trained City Of Wonders (Varenar-Passion) just made it to post a ‘head’ victory. As the field came into the last 200 metres City Of Wonders racing in third started to gallop well and sneaked to the lead from the inside. Altruist that braced the rear in the initial part started to move up from around the field and took the turn almost six wide. Passing past the front runners from the wide outside Altruist came threateningly close to City Of Wonders but failed by a thin margin. Vallee Secrete and Kimono finished close for the minor places.  

Trainer D.Netto and jockey Deepak Singh had earlier scored through Big Flash (Ravel-So Will I) in the Grey Gaston Plate. Jumping out from an outward draw Big Flash moved up quickly to get to the front within the first furlong of the 1200 metres trip. Big Flash led all the way and kicked on to spare over three lengths to Awesome Approach. Miracle King and Undu Undu Undu finished third and fourth respectively.

Lavender (Hurricane Center-R Valid Girl) gave trainer K.Satheesh and apprentice C.P.Bopanna their second win of the day in the Rambo Plate. The 5 years old filly whose last win was exactly a year ago was supported strongly for the seven furlongs race, being sent off as the favourite. Lavender rushed to the front as the gates opened and settled well in the lead. Inside the final furlong visiting rider Arshad Alam tried his best to get Western Express to bridge the gap but Lavender kicked on gamely to be safely home. Nelly and Sea Change went past the post together to be third and fourth respectively.

In the lower division of the Sergeant Major Plate Arjun Anne trained Dandy Girl (Dandy Man-Browne Envelope) pulled off an upset. Dandy Girl shot to the lead right from the word ‘go’, led all the way into the straight and stretched out easily to increase the margin. Aston Doulton chased the winner without hope in the final furlong to finish second. Delta Force ended up third and the on-money favourite a tame fourth.

 R.H.Sequeira schooled Ashka Ashka Ashka (Win Legend-Masquenada) showed tremendous improvement in its second start, to win the division of the Okai Okai Okai Plate. Sequeira’s filly had a rather sluggish start and raced with the back bunch in the early part of the race. Improving all the way she was up on the wide outside on top of the straight. Rose Petal rallied along the rails and took over the running mid-way up the straight. Jockey Arshad Alam brought Ashka Ashka Ashka with a strong challenge from the outside and the filly swept past to register a fine win. Rose Petal stayed on in second followed by Inzaire and Royal Green.

In the lower division Anupam Sharma trained La Romance (Roi Maudit-Romance In Rain) pulled off a surprise win. Univision set off on a start to finish bid and came into the straight with a useful lead of over three lengths. Coming into the last furlong the 20-1 shot La Romance picked up speed to come out of the pack and with big strides headed past Univision and stretched clear. Soaring Sensex finished third ahead of the favourite Golden Hope.

Ananta Vatsalya trained Abracos (Samhoon-Sahebzadi) that was improving places over the last couple of runs won the Placerville Plate by a comfortable margin. The filly settled nicely in third behind Enter Canter and Steyn Memories in the initial stages. Moving up to be second passing the 600 metres Abracos bridged the gap mid-way up the straight and sped past to score an easy win. Rainbow Blues and Sir Legend finished on second and third respectively while the early leader Enter Canter finished fourth.

Khan Sahib (Eljohar-Dangerous Belle) gave trainer S.S.Faisal Hassan a win on the concluding day of the season. Matica went on a start to finish bid over the 1200 metres sprint and came into the straight with a lead of over two lengths. Khan Sahib racing in about fifth or sixth till the top of the straight took the shortest way to get behind the leader and with a terrific burst of speed sped past in the last 100 metres. Matica stayed on in second while Beauty Flash and Born To Do It filled the frame in that order.

Apprentice Md.Sameeruddin rode K.S.V.Prasad Raju’s Celtic Queen (Total Gallery-Celtic Rose) to a short-head win and record an encore in the Friendly Fire Plate. On The Fire set out in front right from the start and Celtic Queen tracked the leader from close quarters. Inside the last 400 metres Celtic Queen worked its way to move alongside and after a stirring duel right through the last 100 metres stuck her nose in front at the all important end. Southern Crown and Creator filled the frame in that order while the fancied Vancouver ended up fifth without a fight.

The winter season came to a close with long-shot Golden Adara (Top Class-Maha Rani) coming up from nowhere to pull it off in the Riyahi Plate. The filly had opened her account on debut last winter but had not shown any form in the dozen runs after that. Approaching the last 200 metres Cash For Rank was trying hard to hold on to the lead from Cashel. Invasion came up strongly and grabbed the lead from the outside. Just when it looked that Invasion would pull it off came Golden Adara came flying from out of the blue maneuvering through the field to snatch the victory close home and give apprentice Md.Sameeruddin his double on the last day. Touch Of Gold finished third ahead of Cash For Rank.