Jockey Akshay Kumar blazed away scoring four winners in the eight-race card in which his riding might contributed immensely in etching out two narrow victories. He was off to a great start slamming back to back wins in the first two races of the day and then carried on to finish with the day with a flourish.

The racing in general was captivating as most races saw tight finishes and some late rallies. On such late bid was that of On My Way (Sedgefield – No Fair Peeking) from trainer Faiyaz Khan’s yard, ridden by jockey Ashhad Asbar, who won the Original Vel V Balasubramani Memorial Cup.

On My Way was at the tail end of the field all through the back stretch and start making progress nearing the 600 meter mark. Charlie Brown who took over the running past the 1000 m marker from early leader Actually, kicked on for surprisingly long. Favourite Seven Eleven was finding it hard to get past even as he got alongside the leader approaching the distance post. Just as they two were fighting neck and neck, On My Way arrived with a powerful thrust to waylay the duo and zipped ahead in the last 50 meters or so to snatch victory a stride or two from the winning post. Charlie Brown held on grittily to take the runner-up slot sparing a neck to Seven Eleven.

Sequeira trained Ambitious Approach (Mathematician – Dance N Celebrate) benefitted from the fine form of champion jockey Akshay Kumar who rode out strongly to clip the challenge thrown by That’s My Magic.

Pentagon guided them into the straight with a slender lead and was soon challenged by Mr Baahubali, who too could not last too long. News O’ Star, Ambitious Approach and That’s My Magic were lurking just behind the front running pair and an edge of the seat finish was on the cards. Ambitious Approach and That’s My Magic pulled away speeding towards the wining post. It was too close to call as both were hurtling towards the winning post neck and neck. Without taking anything away from jockey Nakhat Singh astride That’s My Magic, Akshay probably made the difference in the end as he got that little bit extra out of Ambitious Approach to carve out a narrow win. Magical Skill edged out Champion Bull for the place stakes.

 Akshay Kumar, as cited earlier, had started the day with a bang. He partnered trainer Ravindra Singh’s Royal Dancer (Sussex – Dream Dancer) to her career win, this one coming after a gap of over a year. Cowboy’s Delight led them into the straight with Silver Dollar trying hard to race away. However, just after he got past to lead, his hopes were shattered as Royal Dancer got into a good rhythm and started to eat up ground briskly. He surged past Silver Dollar midway down the homestretch and rolled on to score a convincing victory. Withrosemakeup improved well to take the runner up berth.

IN the very next race, Akshay was again in the spotlight, this time guiding first timer Aerial Combat (Air Support – Sheer Class) to a memorable debut win. Quick at start, Aerial Combat led them all the way, galloping at a good clip. Once inside the last two furlongs, Akashima started to inch closer. Team Player, who was right up close with the pair, failed to match their speed and fell back. Aerial Combat held the upper hand while Akashima tried hard to catch up. Aerial Combat galloped on relentlessly leaving no chance for any last moment surprises and won by just under a length to taste success in his very first outing. Akashima fought hard and missed it narrowly, but will not have to wait too long to strike, going by the fighting qualities she displayed while running a gallant second.

Sequeira trained Rapid Fire (Sussex – Surya Lakshmi) won the upper division of the Amarnath Gupta Memorial Cup in an exciting finish, beating popular fancy and Akshay ridden favourite Agni. Apprentice jockey Abhay Singh deserves high praise for keeping his nerve and riding out astutely to steal a close finish from his senior jockey who is terrific form. He can bask in the glory of finishing his job with finesse.  

Happy Together led them in until approaching the final furlong, where from both Rapid Fire and Agni locked horns. They got past Happy Together inside the final furlong and then fought hard going stride for stride. Agni did seem to have a slight upper hand but that was soon squashed by Abhay Singh who tore through between Happy Together and Agni to score a sensation win on the last stride. Abhay rode a brilliant race and Rapid Fire was the beneficiary having himself galloped his heart out. Happy Together didn’t finish too far behind while ending a good third.

Giethorn (Knight’s Tour – Lucy Diamond) saddled by Netto, caused a flutter in the lower division of the race. Hot favourite Sitara was beaten out of sight by some long-shots dominating the finish.

Jockey Kiran Naidu pushed Giethorn into the early led and settled well thereafter. Star Gazer moved in to run close behind the leader with Max in third, and Sitara, after a trifle inconvenient start progressed to settled a close fourth.

Giethorn kicked on after entering the homestretch but was followed closely by Max and Sitara who took the turn wide. Naidu was relentless in urging Giethorn to stay ahead even as Max drew closer. Sitara was not quickening and looked a casualty way too early. Star Envoy started to make his presence felt while Ashka Ashka Ashka too was progressing well. In the scramble for the post, Giethorn showed a lot of character and held on from the battling bunch to carve out a narrow victory. Max fell shy by a head with Star Envoy and Ashka Ashka Ashka finishing alongside in a thrilling four-horse finish. Sitara may have been distraught by a couple of rough passages and jostling and can certainly do a lot better the next time.  

Another gripping battle unfolded between Bombastic and Royal Girl in the Blue Bird Plate, the sixth race of the day. Both the runners were in the front bunch with Patron Saint at the helm. Patron Saint increased his lead as they turned for home and was shaping well as he was still well ahead approaching the distance post. Royal Girl and Bombastic then started to bridge the gap with Glendale slipping through along the rails. Royal Girl and Bombastic (Green Coast – Missey) collared Patron Saint inside the final 150m and then surged ahead trying to out-do one another and they flashed past the post together, with Bombastic getting the nod right. The SSF Hassan ward won by a head to spare. Royal Girl was a tad unlucky to have gone down so closely after a real good effort. Glendale managed to pip Patron Saint for the place money.

Akshay Kumar got into the act once again in the last race of the day to sign off on a glorious note astride trainer Ravindra Singh’s Shandaar (Lord Admiral – Duchess of York). Settling the fifth spot, Shandaar produced a fiery gallop midway down the straight. Composure, Freedom Fire, Tammana were all accounted for once Shandaar got going. He accelerated fluently and made light of the heavy impost he was carrying winning with a huge margin. Limousine ran on to finish second while Composure held on to save place money.

Akshay Kumar was the star of the day picking up four winners, while trainer RH Sequeira saddled a treble and Ravindra Singh a double.