The Hyderabad Season started off on a very exciting note with four juveniles finishing on in a heap taking the suspense all the way to the last stride. A fairly large crowd had filled the stands on the opening day and were immediately provided with an adrenaline dose in the first race itself.

Giethorn (Knight’s Tour – Lucy Diamond) from the stables of trainer D Netto shot out of the gates and led the field from the word go. Linewiler stuck by the leader with Ruletheworld and Artistryy following close behind along the rails, with debutante Mahashakti just behind the front-runners.

Giethorn kicked on stubbornly even as Linewiler and Ruletheworld were threatening to snatch the lead, breathing down her neck. A fierce fight ensued with very little separating the top four. Giethorn, with jockey Kiran Naidu in the saddle, showed tremendous resolve in holding on by a short-head eventually from Linewiler and the on-money favourite Ruletheworld who picked up a stride too late. Mahashakti too warmed up towards the finish line and she should be happy with her first effort. Giethorn stole the honours on the day, but all the four that followed the winner fought out all the way and each one of them would benefit from this well-run race. Mahashakti is my pick from the beaten brigade.

Amazing Response (Lord Shanakill – Zing Wing) galloped fluently all the way right from the start, giving jockey Akshay Kumar an easy ride to victory, while bagging the Telangana Cup. Akshay guided the RH Sequeira ward smoothly into the lead soon on start and settled into a nice rhythm. He had a small break over Prospero coming into the straight and Amazing Response accelerated fluently in the homestretch to stay well ahead and looked under no threat whatsoever, while finishing on and notching up an impressive victory. The backers of the favourite had no anxious moments at all as Amazing Response romped home a clear winner. Prospero followed the winner all the way, while Phenomenal Cruise improved positions to finish third. Like Wise was slow off and progressed to finish off the frame, but had a good lung-opener for the season and bears watching over longer distances.   

Jockey Suraj Narredu partnered hot favourite Isabella to a fine victory to the thrill of her huge number of supporters.  Isabella notched up her fourth victory in eight races, finishing runner-up in the other four races. This time too she was up with the leaders as Classic Remark hit the front with Ambitious Approach and Isabella following close behind.

Laxman Singh’s ward Isabella closed-in on Classic Remark soon on turning for home and had no difficulty in collaring the leader. Exclusivenorthwind covered a lot of ground in the straight and improved positions steadily, but in the final rush, the colt veered suddenly almost dislodging Akshay Kumar was clearly unbalanced at that crucial juncture. However, Isabellla by then was well on her way to victory and Exclusivenorthwind would have finished second anyways.  Classic Remark ran on to take the third spot.

News O’ Star (Surfrider – Outtostealthescene) put in a fiery finish to down Rapid Fire closer home to cause a major upset in the upper division of the SS Cardmaster Memorial Cup. Rapid Fire did most things right and grabbed the initiative approaching the distance post, while getting past favourite Pontius Pilate. The favourite led them all the way deep into the straight, however, Pontius Pilate shifted inwards and brushed the inner railing and broke his stride too as he fell back alarmingly. He may have stumbled too and jockey Trevor could not ride him out all the way. Rapid Fire had barely got into the lead when News O’ Star switched to the outside and quickened well to catch up with Rapid Fire. The duo fought to the finish, with News O’ Star forcing the issue in the last few strides to carve out a narrow win. Rapid Fire finished a good second. Hailstorm did well to improve positions and end in the money. As for Pilatus Pilate, this run is best ignored and he deserves another chance.

Laxman Singh’s Platts Tour (Tazahum – Karisini) won the lower division of the race scoring a facile win beating on-money favourite Roll Call and the second in demand Blazer with surprising ease.

Jockey Ashhad Asbar guided Platts Tour into the lead and had Star Gazer close behind until the turn. Into the straight, Platts Tour accelerated well to stretch her lead approaching the distance post and worked up good speed to steer clear of the rest. Blazer worked hard to stay in contention until midway in the straight, but just could not keep up with Platts Tour. The second favourite finished well behind the winner while taking the runner-up berth. Solar Heights finished third well ahead of favourite Roll Call, the latter making no headway whatsoever and never was in the hunt.

Yours Forever (Arazan – Yutai) finally came good to score a much needed maiden victory. He was confidently backed to score and he didn’t disappoint this time. The LVR Deshmukh ward didn’t seem in any hurry as he raced in the mid-pack until the homestretch. Once into the straight, jockey P Surya asked for an effort and Yours Forever progressed well to collar the ones in front with ease and then stretch out nicely to score a comfortable victory. Explosive improved to run a good second, beating early leader Original Temptress to third.

Aon Aon Aon (Tazahum – Gracious Melange) created a flutter while beating the shortest priced favourite Vijays Singham by over a length. The 10 to 4 on favourite charged in in the early stages to grab the initiative from Celeritas and dictate his own pace. Vijays Singham appeared to be going well until into the final furlong, however, Aon Aon Aon loomed large and arrived with a flourish to knock Vijay’s Singham down in the last 100 meters to win by just over a length. Curcumin had dropped the rider at the start but was galloping rider-less up in front but jockey P Koushik managed to manoeuvre his way around to surge ahead without hindrance and score his second career win on his third start. Vijays  Singham ran well too and ought to be given another chance. Celeritas held off Max to finish in the money.   

Smarty (Surfrider – Anodyne) trained by Srinivas Reddy won readily without encountering any serious challenge. Jockey SG Prasad settled Smarty close behind leader Agilis until into the straight and then made a quick forward surge to sail ahead in the last two furlongs. Once in the lead, Smarty kept the momentum going and left nothing to chance, galloping away relentlessly to score with a good measure of comfort. Escalating Striker improved in the straight and did well to beat Cowboy’s Delight and Agilis for the runner-up berth.     

For the professionals, trainers RH Sequeira and Laxman Singh saddled a double each.