Calamity struck the Hyderabad race course when a young apprentice jockey, just under 25 years of age - Jitendra Singh fell off his mount Gold Label soon after the start of the Osman Sagar Plate, the fourth race of the day. The hapless lad was right in the middle with horses covering him from all sides when tragedy struck. It looked like Gold Label clipped one of the runners and buckled thereby dislodging young Jitendra Singh in an instant, leaving him no chance whatsoever to escape. Jockey Md Ismail however, had a lucky escape as he too fell split-seconds later but got away with non-threatening injuries. 

Jitendra Singh was a fairly successful apprentice, having ridden around 20 winners. He had ridden two winners so far this season and was competent, while improving all the time. On Sunday, Jitendra was astride Gold Label; he took off from gate no 2 and was just settling his mount when Gold Label stumbled suddenly and went down with the jockey. It was a crowded front-bunch and there was no way Jitendra could have done anything in that split-second. The shock must have triggered a heart attack and the sad news that he had breathed his last soon trickled in. Md Ismail who was following the bunch, also had no reaction time and he too fell along with his horse Whiskery. He was fortunate to get away relatively lightly.

On the racing front, Crackershow (Roi Maudit – Casual Look) won the race with ease notching up her first win on her seventh start. Air Salute and Crackershow matched strides and pulled away from the rest and entered the homestretch with a big lead of nearly 10 lengths. These two battled on past the distance post, but Crackershow got better and surged past Air Salute to score by over two lengths. Misty River covered a lot of ground to peg back Air Salute for the runner up berth.  

Lightning Bolt (Excellent Art – Shamaal) from the Deshmukh-stables responded to the hard riding of jockey Ajeeth Kumar to launch an all-out attack on Ashwa Yashobali, who was leading well until beaten. Ashwa Yashobali was out in front soon on start and surged further ahead on turning for home. He accelerated well and built what looked like a handy lead and was travelling well too. Ajeeth Kumar used his whip hand well and started inching closer inside the final furlong. They picked up momentum with about 100 m to go and in the final few strides, Lightning Bolt managed to pick up good speed to down Ashwa Yashobali by just over a length. Artistryy arrived with a good finish too, but just failed to pip Ashwa Yashobali, falling shy by a short-head.

Havelock Cruise (Chinese Whisper – Yughanni) came up trumps in a fierce fight and the fact that he was carrying the top weight makes his win commendable. Blazer led them into the straight with Spicy Star on the outside. Jockey Deepak Singh moved up along the rails with Havelock Cruise, but was taking his time to pick up momentum. Tetra Rama too was in the vicinity and with a furlong to go, it looked like anybody's race. Blazer fought hard to keep his lead but Havelock Cruise was easily gaining on him. Just when Havelock Cruise got ahead, Spicy Star got going and came dangerously close, but Havelock Cruise managed to stay ahead at the wire to win by a head. Tetra Rama nosed out Blazer for the place money.

Sequeira’s Super Angel (Win Legend – Ice Point) won on expected lines and with a margin. Settling in fifth or sixth position, apprentice jockey Abhay Singh propelled Super Angel soon on turning for home and the in-form filly accelerated fluently to swoop upon the front runners and draw away. She completely outclassed her opponents scoring a facile victory by five lengths. Mr Shanghai was the best of the beaten lot ending second, well ahead of Linewiler who improved positions in the straight.

Unmatched (Crimson China – Enchanting Miss) trained by Shezad Abbas was astutely ridden by jockey Koushik to pocket the first race of the day in a thrilling finish. Jarvis and Moonlight Ruby were sparring for the lead with about a furlong and half to go when Koushik alerted Unmatched to the task. The filly responded by producing a blazing run in the final 100 meters to collar Moonlight Ruby just in time to carve out a narrow victory. Akido took a long time to get going, but when he did he too flashed on the scene but was a tad too late. He missed out narrowly though finishing just half a length behind the runner-up, managing to pip Jarvis for the third spot.

Sequeira trained Starwalker (Oath – Rubyann) galloped to his maiden win earning her winning bracket in style. It was Africanus who led them into the straight and had a sizable lead too, but he just could sustain and faded out at the business end. Starwalker sizzled in the final furlong and a half and the moment jockey Rohit Kumar pressed the button, Starwalker stormed into the lead and left the rest far behind. He won by a big margin of four and half lengths to outpace the rest completely. Fantastic Show and Farmville improved in the final furlong to take the minor slots.

The last race of the day was called off and it was later announced that the race will be run on the 6th of January 2021.

For the professionals, trainer Sequeira was the lone pro to score a double.