Desert God (Burden of Proof – Running Flame) bred at the Kunigal Stud Farm, added the Golconda St Leger (Gr2) to his rich Classic tally while blowing away his two younger rivals with remarkable ease. Desert God has now conquered the St Leger four times in his glorious career – Pune (2016), Bangalore twice (2016 & 18) and now his latest at Hyderabad, an incredible feat indeed.  

Desert God got straight down to business and led the field of three soon on start and dictated the pace all through. Reunion tagged a couple of lengths behind, while Salazaar was well behind, off the pace. They raced in the same order until into the straight, but by then the race was all but over. Desert God had a sizable lead turning for home and he sped away without needing to be coaxed by jockey A Sandesh, who relied on just hands and heels to nurse the Padmanabhan trained horse to coast along and complete the formality without giving a semblance of a chance to his two rivals. Neither of them was up to it either, as they surrendered meekly to the might of the Kunigal bred thoroughbred, owned by Mrs Sharmila Padmanabhan, representing the Radiant Bloodstock Pvt Ltd, Mr S Padmanabhan and Col Swapan Bhadra.  

Desert God is the highest earner in the history of Indian racing in his illustrious career spanning over four years, winning 15 races from 23 starts. He has earned a whopping Rs 78,469,058/- to date. He is way ahead of the second placed Quasar (Rs 66,391,873/-) in terms of stake money earned.

Classic Remark (Tariq – Charmstone) ridden by Ashhad Asbar, showed clean pair of heels while dealing with the 100 m scurry and the late assault from favourite Isabella. The 3/1 shot from trainer Srinivas Reddy’s yard, sped ahead early and entered the straight with a handy lead. Isabella improved from the third spot soon past the 400m mark and started to draw closer to the leader. However, Classic Remark kicked on resolutely all the way. Isabella warmed up nicely too but had that leeway to cover and she did cover ground briskly at a good clip particularly in the final furlong. With 100 to go, there must have been apprehension in the Classic Remark camp as Isabella was getting closer with each stride. However, jockey Ashhad Asbar and Classic Remark were relentless and prevailed narrowly smothering the late onslaught commendably. Dunkirk ended a faraway third.

Jockey Akshay Kumar continued to display fine form and riding skills as he notched up a delightful double at the start of the day. He first partnered trainer Kishore’s ward Yanga (Mull of Kintyre – Michele Marieci) to a comfortable victory and justified the favouritism and the popular support the filly received all round.

Akshay settled Yanga in third as Takisha made the early pace right until the turn, with San Vinto at the tail end, about five lengths off the leader. On turning for home, Takisha could not hold on much longer and folded up as soon as Yanga came alongside, just ahead of the 300m board. Yanga moved well and Akshay had to ride the filly out all the way. San Vinto mounted his challenge far too late and had a lot of catching up to do in the final furlong. Eventually he could not draw any closer than the length and half verdict, Yanga proving too good for him on the day. Platinum Claasz improved to finish third, but a good four lengths further away.

 Akshay struck again in the very next race astride the Sequeira trained The Special One (Burden of Proof – Athabasca Star) the three-year-old rig’s second for the season. Honourable Guest led them into the straight with the on-money favourite Siabonga in hot pursuit. Akshay switched to the outside making his bid atop The Special One from the centre of the turf. Siabonga looked on course when she zipped past the leader, but she couldn’t just blaze away and close it there. The Special One started to inch closer and picked up good speed inside the last 100 meters and caught up with Siabonga a few strides from the winning post. The Special One raced ahead and pulled off a narrow win with a fine finishing effort. Honourable Guest held off Vashishta for the third.

Jockey Nakhat Singh picked up a double as well winning the last two races. He first piloted the K Sateesh trained Happy Together (Tazahum – Regal glory) a 12/1 long-shot who sprung a surprise beating the favourite One One One by a good margin of over four lengths. Happy Together pulled off a start to finish win extending his lead in the homestretch leaving nothing to chance and giving no opportunity to One One One to claw back into the race. He quickened very well once they turned for home and galloped gamely through the long straight to post a handsome win by a healthy margin. One One One just could not match up and ended a tame second, while Shivalik Arrow did well to finish in the money.

Nakhat then guided trainer L D’Silva’s ward Madonna (Dean’s Kitten – Impassion) to a well-fought victory over favourite Yogastha. Sitting in the third spot behind Yogastha and Top Enchanter, Nakhat played the waiting game until midway up the straight and then urged Madonna bridge the gap steadily. Yogastha fought on bravely as he accounted for Turf Striker, but when Madonna opened throttle and came at him, Yogastha simply could not counter the challenger and Madonna zipped ahead to carve out a narrow win. Top Enchanter saved the place money.

For the professionals, jockeys Akshay Kumar and Nakhat Singh scored a double each.