It was a lucrative day for followers of favourites on the second day of the Hyderabad Monsoon races and this was welcome relief after a severe drubbing punters suffered on day one. Trainers LVR Deshmukh and Laxman Singh shared the day’s honours with a treble each.

Deshmukh started the day on a winning note with Mandy (Varenar – Gentille) obliging her supporters with a thrilling late finish.

Time is Luck got off to a flier and led them into the straight enjoying a handy lead. Mandy was at the wrong end of the field most of the way and started progressing at the turn.

Into the straight, Time is Luck started to shorten strides which is when Vijay’s Empress moved to take charge. Mandy switched lanes and got going in the final furlong but still had to do some catching up. She joined Vijay’s Empress in the last 100 meters and jockey Hannam rode his heart out getting Mandy to speed up and pip Vijay’s Empress on the post. Take a Bow improved to finish third.

Trainer Laxman Singh then picked up the two divisions of the Nizamabad Plate both with debutantes showing extremely good fitness and temperament. Blue Empress (Multidimensional – Blue Sky) was handled with patience by jockey Deep Shankar who let Life Line draw away in the early stages. Life Line however, squandered away the big lead and surrendered meekly when Blue Empress started to inch closer and then quickened well to stratch away from the field to pile on victory by a huge margin. Tiger of the Sea ended a faraway second ahead of London Bridge.

Platts Tour (Tazahum – Karisini) provided another facile victory for Laxman Singh, the filly easing into the lead soon on settling down and then galloping away to glory. She had a built a good lead coming into the straight, and then accelerated nicely to stay well in front all the way to wire, not encountering any challenge whatsoever. Hailstorm improved to end runner up ahead of Darshish.

Deshmukh drew level with Laxman Singh scoring with Miss Lily (Phoenix Tower – May). Jockey Trevor had her in the mid-bunch most of the way until the turn. Lord Gift guided them homewards and soon faded out. Dunkirk shot ahead and took charge. Miss Lily was gathering momentum and arrived with a good gallop from the outside.  Dunkirk fought a couple of strides before Miss Lily got past and stretched away to score convincingly. Dunkirk ran on to end second ahead of Meritocracy.

Kuldeep Singh ridden Dance Oh Dance (Lord Admiral – Dance N Celebrate) posted a very easy victory showing her superiority in no uncertain terms. She shot into the lead early and galloped at a good clip all through. She got stronger in the straight and skipped away easily in the final furlong to win handsomely. Vallee Sceptre chased the winner all the way, while Asteria ended in the money. Doroteo lost ground at the start, but did well to finish on the frame.

Ravindra Singh trained Vijays Delight (Arazan – Castle Park) raced up in front just behind Miracle King followed by the others chasing the duo close behind. On turning for home, Miracle King kicked on initially and Vijays Delight, ridden by jockey Ajit Singh had to dig deep to collar the leader. Unfortunately for Miracle King, the saddle slipped and Vijays Delight zipped past to seal the issue. Abhishek Pawar did well to keep his cool and finish second ahead of Ikigai.

Sequeira trained Fashion High (Western Aristocrat – Amber Valley) showed good early speed and then settled in second as Dream Girl darted past to take over the running. Fashion High, ridden by Akshay Kumar, was biding her time and caught up with the leader past the 400 and then galloped fluently to stay in command all the way home. New port had a lot to do in the straight and ended a tame second although he did make progress in the straight. Seven Eleven did well to beat Dream Girl for place money.

Deshmukh capped the day with Eternal Angel Serious Spender – Polenta) scoring a narrow victory, giving the trainer his third win for the day. Palace on Wheels brought them into the straight with Eternal Angel ready to pounce on the leader. However, just when Eternal Angel drew closer to Palace on Wheels, she drifted in and may have hampered Palace on Wheels, who certainly looked tightened for room. Eternal Angel kicked on to win with Phenomenal Cruise breathing down her neck and Palace on Wheels finishing third.