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HIGHLY ACCLAIMED EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO FOUR

By Mahendra Mallya | 24 Feb 2019 | HYDERABAD


Highly Acclaimed (Phoenix Tower - Play That Tune) continued his blazing form and chalked up his fourth victory on the trot with another superlative effort to pocket the Telangana Race Horse Owners Association Trophy, the feature event of the day. 

Cannoning out of the gates, Highly Acclaimed, with apprentice Surya Prakash in the saddle, shot into the lead and maintained his grip firmly on the 1600 meters race. He chugged on gamely once into the straight with Chase Your Dreams close behind not making any impression on the leader. Highly Acclaimed kicked on and a semblance of challenge came far too late as Starlight rushed in along the rails, while Western Wind made his bid from the outside. Neither could budge Highly Acclaimed, but they certainly cut down the margin to less than a length. The Deshmukh ward notched up his first win over a mile and this was a great start to finish effort. 

Golden Fortune (Sedgefield - Fabulous Fortune) scored a facile win bagging the Nagarjuna Sagar Cup by a good margin. he broke away from the bunch way before the turn and stormed in with a sizable lead. Hailstorm quickly moved to second but could not make any impact on the winner. Golden Fortune, with jockey Imran Chisty in the saddle, kicked on gamely and looked the winner long way from home. The Deshmukh trainee rolled away and ahead to score his third career win and his first over the mile and quarter trip. 

Trump Girl thumped the opposition once again with a blistering finish. Dancing Leaf got past the front runners to surge into the lead and was galloping well. Kamyar made his move through the inside rails while Trump Girl moved up on the outside. Trump Girl quickened in the final furlong as did Kamyar, but Trump Girl simply bulldozed them all with a cracking finish to notch up her second successive victory and fourth overall. Kamyar was unlucky to lose out, but the brilliance of Trump Girl should give Kamyar hope for the next outing. Nayadeep and Dancing Doll took the minor slots; One One One disappointed.

Golden Adara (Top Class - Maha Rani) improved positions steadily and apprentice jockey Afroze deserves praise for a good job done well. he maneuvered his way and shot into the lead soon on turning form home and that early advantage saw the Faiyaz Khan mare pull off a close win. Smarty took the turn very wide and that proved costly in the end as he came in with a zippy dash only to find the winning post arrive too soon. Had been in a better position at the turn he would not have lost some crucial ground which did make the difference eventually and he had to be content playing second fiddle to Golden Adara. True Emperor ended third. 

Magnetosphere (Dean's Kitten - Fragrances) fought hard to bring about her maiden win and jockey Imran Chisty played a part to see her through. She had a game challenger in Red Snaper at the business end and both fought stride for stride all through the final furlong. It went all the way to the wire and Magnetosphere just managed to hang on to the slender lead. Gazibo arrived with a tremendous burst but was a tad too late. His burst of speed was good enough to pip Red Snaper for the runner up berth. Gazibo's run was eye catching and one to be noted. 

Prasad Raju trained Golden Xanthus (Sharp Attack - Secret Wish) produced an outstanding burst in the latter half of the straight to thump the opposition and score an improbable victory. Improbable, because he was nowhere in the picture when favourite Actually had tackled the front runner and taken charge. Before the supporters of Actually could even shout for their horse, jockey Saiprasad astride Golden Xanthus burst on the scene and shot ahead making Actually look pedestrian. Actually was completely overwhelmed; Dhool Ka phool ran on to save place money, beating early leader Deisis Dream. 

Southern Meteor (Ravel - Calliope) ridden by apprentice Gaurav Singh, ripped through between horses to make a grand finale at the business end. Lock Stella led them deep into the straight but couldn't manage to sustain. Marvel Princess shaped well but could not muster after being in a good position to do so. Southern Meteor, saddled by Ravindra Kumar poked through between horses for a final charge that propped him into the lead which he held on to until the wire. Holy Healer moved in very fast and just failed to pip Southern Meteor. He came from a long way back and finished on commendably to end a short-head behind the winner. Well ahead of Marvel Princess. 

Semira (Varenar - Sun Absolute) got going in the homestretch after falling back to fifth initially. Joy of Giving led them into the straight and was kicking on when Semira moved up and challenged the leader. Joy of Giving fought hard but had to surrendered when Semira picked up speed and zipped ahead in the final furlong to win drawing away. Top Sprint looked good for a brief while, but failed to sustain. Joy of Giving held on stubbornly to wrest the runner-up berth from Top Sprint. Semira provided a double to apprentice jockey Afroz. 

For the professioanls, trainers LVR Deshmukh and Faiyaz Khan saddled a double apeice, while jockeys Imran Khan and Afroz scored a double each.