Despite the terms of the Brave Dancer Plate not exactly in her favour, the three-year-old filly Ballerina, hailing from trainer KSV Prasad Raju’s yard, scored the fifth success of her year long career. Asked to carry an imposing 61.5kg on her back, Akshay Kumar held Ballerina (Sanus Per Aquam – Belladee) on a leash as no hoper Xfinity stormed into the lead from the gates. Amyra, favourite Soloist and Trump Star followed Xfinity while Ballerina raced behind hugging the rails. With two furlongs left for home, Mukesh Kumar pressed Amyra into the lead as Xfinity had shot her bolt. Abhay Singh ridden Soloist looked menacing as she tried to catch Amyra but in vain. Meanwhile Akshay changed gears and got the desired response from Ballerina in the last furlong after giving her a few cracks of his whip. Ballerina started devouring ground and inflicted defeat on Amyra in virtually her last stride. Abhay Singh was no compliment to Soloist’s ability and had to settle for the third place ahead of Red Snaper.

Akshay had earlier piloted the piping hot favourite True Marshal to victory in the upper division of the Nalgonda Cup. True Marshal allowed Challenger to show the way to the field and cruised past her soon after the heads turned for home. The Srinivas Reddy trained True Marshal (Roderic O’Connor – Lombardia) won comfortably as he went on to record an encore. Candy Girl was not really extended when finishing runner up ahead of Protocol, who came with a long-stretched run to be in the money. Unmatched and Alpine Girl, who were not given a punishing race, ended close behind.

Earlier in the day, Srinivas Reddy had led in another short priced winner The Image, who was ridden by Gaurav Singh and had all but lost the race when trying to take the shortest route home at the two furlong marker. The Image brushed the false rails, losing her footing momentarily and almost collided with front runner Ambitious Star. Fortunately for the punters, The Image recovered soon and came with a big run to halt Stag Leap’s winning run by a neck. Ambitious Star ran third with Drd a neck away.

The 20 to 1 long shot Star Racer recorded a smashing victory right at the start of day. Ridden by Aneel, the S Sreekant saddled Star Racer (Corporate Jungle – Vena Amoris) lay at the tail end of the field as Gusty Note brought the field into the straight. Star Racer started devouring ground when Aneel exerted pressure and shocked Flamingo Fame on the post, just when the latter had overwhelmed Blazing Jupiter. Joint favourite Char Ek Char failed to quicken and finished fourth. Coming Home, who was also heavily fancied in the betting ring, ran below par.

The three-year-old grey filly Hoping Cloud (Saamidd – Kalinda Snow) registered a fluent win to give her master Jasbir Singh, who had shifted his base from Kolkata last year, his first win at Malakpet. Mohit Singh steered Hoping Cloud unleashed a brilliant run in the straight to overhaul Mr Perfect, who had taken charge from Bijli at the top of the straight. Favourite Hugh Capet ran green before DS Deora could get the favourite into his stride but had to play second fiddle to the winner. Mr Perfect ended third ahead of Vision Of Rose.

Trainer Ravinder Singh schooled Able Love (Sedgefield – Lopamudra) was ridden confidently by jockey B Nikhil to score a narrow win over Briar Ridge in the first division of the Raja Narasimha Memorial Cup. Nikhil brought Able Love through the shortest way home to tackle leaders Top Diamond and Carlisle, who were disputing the issue till then. Apprentice Santosh Raj ridden Briar Ridge warmed up late and found the winning post coming to the rescue of Able Love. Favourite Lifes Song was hard ridden by Akshay, who switched lanes and tried to make his bid towards the inner rails. Lifes Song could only reduce the margin of defeat as she ended a close fifth behind Carlisle and Top Diamond.

Baisa ended the day on a happy note for the punters as she made it start to finish in the last race of the day. Laxman Singh’s ward Baisa (Declaration Of War – Firebird) was hard ridden by Kiran Naidu to ward off the initial threat posed by Garnet and then staving off the challenge of Top In Class, who warmed up to his task a bit late. Garnet ended a game third ahead of Precious Gift and Above The Law, who seemed to be out for an airing.