‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ goes an old saying, a glimpse of which was witnessed during the climax of the Golconda Oaks at the Malakpet racecourse of Monday. Jockey Trevor Patel showcased his brilliant riding skills astride Queen Envied, the winner of the Grade 2 event run over a mile and half. The judges were unable to separate Queen Envied and Hoping Cloud as the two fillies flashed past the winning post in tandem. To the naked eye it appeared that the former had escaped the clutches of the favourite, who finished on with a rattle but very wide on the centre of the track. The photo-finish verdict however had a different story to tell and it turned out that Queen Envied had trumped Hoping Cloud by a nose!

As the six-horse field was flagged off, the local challenger Humanitarian with Suraj Narredu astride embarked on a start-to-finish mission over the Derby trip with Nugget and Princess Daka in close attendance. Meanwhile N R I Superpower, Hoping Cloud and Queen Envied chose to play the waiting game and were well settled behind the front-runners. The order of running didn’t alter and Humanitarian was still in command as the field approached the final lap. All the horses were off their bridle at this juncture but the horse that really got going on entering the home stretch was Hoping Cloud. Queen Envied unfortunately veered out when set alight by Trevor. 

With a furlong and half left for home, Humanitarian started losing steam whilst N R I Superpower and Nugget both failed to gather momentum despite going their riders going flat out. The lanky lad Mohit Singh atop Hoping Cloud got a terrific response from the filly, who produced a superb run to soon overhaul the trio ahead. The grey filly looked coasting home when Queen Envied (Lord Admiral – Be Envied) unleashed a scintillating run as Trevor was unrelenting despite his mount’s drift. The Bangalore-based professional Irfan Ghatala’s protégé gave her heart out and pounced on Hoping Cloud and eventually her down to earth. Trainer Jasbir Singh’s charge was not disgraced in this defeat as Hoping Cloud certainly went down to a better specimen. N R I Superpower ended third ahead with Nugget and Humanitarian in close tow. Queen Envied is co-owned by Arun Alagappan, who also has a share in Salento and whose properties have claimed all the last five classics run at Malakpet, and Sans Craintes Stud Farm.

The leading jockey-trainer duo of RH Sequeira and Akshay Kumar once again hogged the limelight on the big day with a treble. Their first success was fetched by the chestnut gelding Laurus. The sparingly raced five-year-old Laurus made his debut last year and was astutely placed by Sequeira against a well performed lot in Class III. Laurus, unwilling to be held on the leash, found himself in front until Mind Reader arrived to relieve his agony. Mind Reader showed the way till the last 300m and surrendered the lead to Laurus, who was driven out by Akshay. Above The Law closed in on Laurus but Akshay was intent on guiding Laurus to victory which he did as the gelding dug into his reserves and repelled his rival’s onslaught to earn his second successive victory this season. Trevor ridden Top In Class and hot favourite Maximus Glamour were hard-ridden to bridge the leeway in the final stages but Laurus had already wrapped up the race by then. The weight of lead in the saddle as also the public purse carried by Maximum Glamour probably told on her performance as the mare failed to display her last-outing brilliance.

After failing to earn a bracket thrice earlier, Watch My Stride obliged his followers in the supporting event of the day. Akshay had Sequeira’s ward racing behind the leaders in the small field of six and improved steadily to be in striking position passing the half-way mark. Watch My Stride (Whatsthescript – Flamingo Fan) assumed command with a furlong and half away from the winning post and Akshay packed enough punch in his riding to thwart his main adversary Kesariya Balam, who looked menacing close home. Premier Action and Top Secret were prominent till the last furlong but were happy to settle for the minor places.

Akshay aboard N R I Ultrapower didn’t have to sweat in the day’s last race as much as he did astride his previous winners. N R I Ultrapower (Saamidd – Captain’s Lover) raced close behind Desert Sultan and joint favourite Superstellar till the final bend and zoomed ahead when Desert Sultan veered out. Trevor ridden Superstellar was inconvenienced slightly by Desert Sultan just when he was about to launch his assault and failed to recover thereafter. N R I Ultrapower meanwhile pulled away from the pack to win from late finishing Grand Duke. Superstellar and Queen Blossom completed the frame.

KSV Prasad Raju groomed Strauss, who had dislodged his rider at gates last time out, took a smooth jump from the gates and lay in wait behind leader My Marvel, City Cruise and Flaming Falcon till entering the final run in. Suraj brought Strauss (Multidimensional – Enchufla) into contention as the heads straightened for home and overwhelmed My Marvel with a furlong and half left for home. Strauss strode clear after receiving a couple of reminders and won convincingly from Flaming Falcon. Soorya Vahan ran on to edge out City Cruise and Arba Waheed Arba for the third place.

Following her defeat at the hands of Huntingdon on debut, G Shashikanth schooled filly N R I Doublepower had apparently stripped fitter after that outing. The bay filly, who was in receipt of 5.5kg from Huntingdon on this occasion, allowed Assured Success and debutant Golden Gazelle to show the way and was powered into the lead by Hindu Singh opposite the grand stand. N R I Doublepower (Gusto –Sparkling Crystal) leaned on to Huntingdon when surging ahead whereby the latter had to be steadied before renewing his bid. N R I Doublepower was in no danger on being once she took charge and then skipped away to avenge her defeat. Assured Success retained the third spot from Golden Gazelle, who has had a good educative run.
 
Favourite Yesterday (Ampere – Yemen Desert) once again displayed his stamina and justified his favouritism over the mile and half trip for the Ranga Reddy Cup. LVR Deshmukh had three candidates in the field of seven of which last-outing winner Francis Bacon set the perfect pace for Yesterday and relinquished the lead soon after bring the field into the straight. Trevor then kept Yesterday on course to record his second victory over this distance. Path Of Peace and Francis Bacon finished second third to credit Deshmukh with the first three places. Just Incredible warmed up late to complete the judge’s frame.

Almost a year after shedding his maiden status, SSF Hassan nurtured Hot Seat (Smuggler’s Cove – Azarenka) once again entered the winner’s enclosure immediately on relegation to the lowest class. Hot Seat followed Red River, who bolted ahead and established a long lead, all the way and went sailing into lead after the leader had shot her bolt in the last two furlongs.  Hot Seat had a good cushion as jockey A Vikrant kept her going though he came under pressure from Muaser and Lady Danger nearer home. Lady Danger, the Akshay ridden mare from MS Parmar’s string who was backed down to favouritism, came into the picture when the race was all over bar the shouting thus causing a lot of money to go down the drain. Sweet Melody ran an uninterested fourth.

The decision of trainer Leo D’Silva to exploit the allowance of 5kg claimer Ekram Alam for his ward Milton Keynes paid rich dividends. Ekram however was all at sea as Milton Keynes fought fiercely for his head and had his say after a furlong or so. The bay gelding drifted out alarmingly as soon as he brought the field into the home stretch making way for Visionary who was in hot pursuit. Visionary slipped into the lead and appeared in sight of her maiden success but Ekram made amends for his feeble handling earlier and spurred Milton Keynes (Oiseau De Feu – Straightforward) to give another shot following which his mount responded with a devastating run that floored Visionary, also ridden by whipless Kuldeep Singh, on the post. Protocol finished a faraway third ahead of Chica Bonita.