Jockey Akshay Kumar has been blazing in the saddle for a while now, literally running through the race card. He has already become the darling of the crowd and the trend is just starting that racegoers are now backing the jockey with confidence rather than the horse that he is riding! That notion paid off overwhelmingly on Sunday as Akshay Kumar thrilled his backer notching up a whopping five winners in the seven-race card! And why wouldn’t they?

His roll started in the day’s first race itself in which Akshay was partnering trainer LVR Deshmukh’s ward Alexanderthegreat (Red Jazz – Alexandra Pearl). The chestnut four-year-old had a few ordinary runs lately and was quoted at 9 to 2 in the betting ring with Crimson Fire garnering strong support backed down to 8/10 on at race time.

Alexanderthegreat made steady progress in the first half of the seven-furlong RCTC Plate Div I to be in second behind Marina Del Rey who led them into the straight. Alexanderthegreat soon picked up momentum and dashed past the leader to work up a sizable lead approaching the distance post. Crimson Fire was taking time lighting up, but did start to close in on the leader. Alexanderthegreat however, kicked on gamely under some determined effort from Akshay Kumar and managed to ward off the favourite and carve out a narrow victory. Yogya improved to finish well and take the third spot.

Akshay scored his next this time astride Evon Von Brando (Net Whizz – private Collection) who had not won since his maiden win in August and he had run five times post that win. Akshay’s magic seemed the right recipe for Evon Von Brando to pick up another win and he galloped resolutely managing to keep a pack of opponents at bay.

Akshay courageously hit the front with Evon Von Brando and led comfortably until they turned for home. Once into the straight, Evon Von Brando marched on ahead and steadily built a sizable lead. While Vashishta was labouring hard to draw closer, Running Fire too was finding it difficult to match the pace at which Evon Von Brando was galloping at. Eventually, the challenge petered out and the Deshmukh trainee pulled off a two-length victory and Running Fire, Vashishta and Willow Glen ended up fighting for the minor berths.

Dancing Away (Ivory Touch – Stormness), from the stables of trainer Kassam, was a much easier ride for Akshay Kumar. They got off to a good start taking the early lead. Dancing Away had Platinum Claasz for company only until the turn. Once inside the homestrech, Dancing Away started to spurt away from Platinum claasz. He shot further away with every stride, showing fine acceleration, leaving no chance for the rest to catch up. Dancing Away won by a margin of over four lengths. Platinum Claasz ended chasing the winner and finishing a length ahead of Halo’s Princess.

Ace Ace Ace (Win Legend – Refreshing) was winner no 4 for Akshay Kumar on the day. Akshay made this one look easy too but he had to fight hard early in the straight as prime favourite Hailstorm did look a potent threat until the distance post. Ace Ace Ace pulled away in the final furlong leaving Hailstorm behind and kicked on gamely sustaining the momentum all the way past the post. Yanga finished on with a late but strong gallop to beat Hailstorm to third.

Akshay capped his productive day aptly with a facile victory astride hot favourite Balius (Air Support – Soviet Song) from the stables of trainer RH Sequeira. This was another start-to-finish essay and it didn’t look that easy when they straightened up for home. Nathu La who was right behind Balius right from the start, came abreast with 400 m to go and stuck by the favourite for the better part of the long Hyderabad straight. It was a hard battle between Balius and Nathu La as they stuck together well into the final furlong. Balius put in a fresh gallop at the business end and with a crack or two was drawing away from Nathu La to forge ahead and score by two and half lengths.

Valee Tiger (Whatsthescript – Reflectance) trained by Faiyaz Ali Khan, was forcefully ridden by ace jockey Suraj Narredu as he had a long gap to cover on Columbus who had a sizable lead coming into the straight. Suraj recognised the threat looming as Dean’s Gal was close behind him and he rode out Valee Tiger to take charge approaching the distance post. He still had to contend with Dean’s Gal as she was too close for comfort. Ta Ta was also making good progress improving from the rear, but had too much leeway to cover. Valee Tiger sustained the tempo and eventually smothered the brewing challenge from Dean’s Gal to score a narrow win. Ta Ta did well to finish in the money.

Lazer Beam (Tazahum – Flirting Fantasy) garnered good support and obliged a large following while finishing on with a fiery run in the final stages of the race. Classy Guy was shaping well as he came into the straight with a handy lead. He galloped on as far as he could before buckling under pressure. Nayadeep arrived with a big run emerging from some way back and Lazer Beam too was charging in for his final finish. These two matched stride for stride and in the end Lazer Beam got better at the finish to snatch victory a stride or two from the winning post. Nayadeep ended a good second while Classy Guy held on to the third spot.

For the professionals, jockey Akshay Kumar was the star of the day with five winners, while trainers LVR Deshmukh and RH Sequeira saddled a double each.