Pesi  Shroff trained Denny Crane (Arazan-Blue Horizon / Poona Stud) came out with flying colours in the Governor’s Cup on Sunday at Hyderabad. The 5 years old gelding had fared poorly, finishing last in the Sprint Championship at Bangalore after a big win in the Chief Minister’s Cup. The stable companion Adam cornered the maximum support in the betting to be sent off as the favourite while Denny Crane was sent off at 7-1.

Dancing Phoenix showed plenty of speed to lead the field with Vijay’s Joy racing close behind. Denny Crane settled in third followed by the rest. Entering the last 300 metres Vijay’s Joy took over the running and Denny Crane was pulled out to make a bid. Rahul’s Pet also slipped in along the rails and looked good. Denny Crane and Rahul’s Pet fought on for a brief while and the former stretched clear as the winning post neared. Castle Key rallied on to beat Vijay’s Joy for the third spot. The favourite was under pressure when pressed from the outside on the straight and finished a tame seventh.

Fancied runners took a day off on Sunday with only three of them obliging among them in a card of nine races. Laxman Singh trained Mirfield (Win Legend-Integrate) was one among them to justify the favouritism in the Charminar Trophy. Having won in the lower class Mirfield was fancied strongly to win the seven furlongs trip. Chasing the leader Dancing Farha till entering the home stretch Mirfield took charge without any fuss and kicked on even as Juneau made a vain bid. Optimus Commander just managed to beat Gayle Force for the third place. Nautanki was a non-starter in the race.

K.Satheesh trained Handy Man (Dancing Forever-Tourmalet) was fancied well to win the Own Opinioon Plate and the 4 years old was given a good ride by Nakhat Singh to wrap up the mile race. Handy Man had a run in the winter Derby here and was running after nearly seven months. Nakhat Singh held back his mount to run in about third last while stable mate Lavender led the pack of nine. Entering the last 300 metres Supremo and Kalinda were fighting for honours and Handy Man who was alighted to the task from the outside galloped strongly and travelled the best. Supremo and Kalinda finished second and third respectively followed by Al Sadr.

Both the divisions of the race for maiden 3 year olds, the Deccan Queen Plate were won by horses at longer odds. M. Sathyanarayana schooled Wild Wings (Surfrider-Wild Anzille) won the higher division. Wild Wings had finished a runner-up when fancied exactly a month ago but the bay colt was neglected completely in the betting this time. Wild Wings jumped out smartly from an outward draw and moved towards the inner rails, led early and settled in third when Withoutrosemakeup and Turf Legend took over the running together. Inside the last 400 metres Wild Wings made way between horses and slipped in to take it up and stretched out easily. Turf Legend stayed on in second from the favourite Limousine finishing on. Exclusive Striker filled the frame.

Donald Netto’s youngster Phenomenal Cruise (Declaration Of War-Firebird) galloped well to lift the division II of the race. Racing a handy third till entering the straight Phenomenal Cruise sped past the leader Reunion and shed its maiden ranks. Zelus, Seven Eleven and Et Voici filled the frame in that order.

The combination of trainer L.D’Silva and apprentice Md. Ismail continued their good run this season with a win on Asteria (Green Coast-Alero) in the division I of the Astronimic Cup. The on-money favourite Amazing Response was at its job after taking a smart jump from the outermost draw and passing the rest of the field. Asteria improved gradually and with a splendid turn of foot sped past the favourite to score. Khan Sahib finished third ahead of Cash Landing. Rajneeti was a non-starter in the race.

Trainer Laxman Singh saddled his double for the day through Top Link (Top Class-Mizzna) in the lower division. The short priced favourite Arc Of History went on a start to finish bid but started to lose steam in the final furlong. Celtic Queen was the first to overhaul the favourite but was no match when Top Link raised a gallop from the outside. Prime Time and Proud Warrior finished third and fourth respectively.Lucky Nicky was a non starter in the race.

In a nail biting finish Zoheb Shaikh trained Wonder Star (varenar-Hi Fi) and Anantha Vatsalya’s Icing On The Cake (Samhoon-Evening Bride) dead-heated for the first place in the division I of the Manchiryala Plate while Dear Friend ended third, a neck behind. Dear Friend on a start to finish bid was ridden hard to keep the lead inside the last 100 metres. Wonder Star began to close the gap and Icing On The Cake gaining ground from the outside. In Command was also in contention till the last 100 metres. The three of them went past the winning post together and a dead-heat was declared after the judge could not separate them in the photo.

Jockey Akshay Kumar who shared the winner’s cheque in the higher dicision rode S.A.Shehzad Abbas’s Sir Legend (China Visit-Dazzling Skill / Usha Stud) to a popular win in the lower division. Gaining momentum inside the last furlong Sir Legend sped past the leader Zensational and hit the winning post first from the fast finishing Pretty Star and Wine N Dine. Zensational ended up being fourth.