In a move that was widely termed as “too little, too late, the regulators of horse-racing at the Hyderabad Race Club acted tough and took disciplinary action against two jockeys – B. Nikhil and P. Sai Kumar. In the fresh episode in the serial of heavily fancied juvenile runners falling by the wayside, Silver Act and Encore failed to carry the burden of the public’s purse at the start of the day’s proceedings and later Detective played truant. An equal number of horses – Stunning Art, Anab E Shahi and Ruby Red, bucked the trend to oblige the punters.

Even the day’s feature event, Nawab Sultan Ali Khan Memorial Cup, was mired in controversy. The positive intent shown by Ajeeth Kumar atop LVR Deshmukh-schooled Painted Apache was hard to miss as he wasted no time and brought his mount to race well up with N R I Superpower, who decided to make the initial running over the mile and quarter journey. In stark contrast was P. Sai Kumar’s demeanour as he rode Karanveer off the pace and settled him in the rear alongside Tiger Mountain. Sai Kumar swung into action when N R I Superpower led her rivals into the straight and was about to make way for Painted Apache. Overnight favourite Tiger Mountain, who was ridden by Kuldeep Singh (Sr.) failed to make headway whilst Karanveer was put into top gear by Sai Kumar. Karanveer was whipped once to remind him of his task ahead and in his second attempt to whip him again, Sai Kumar lost his whip. Yet the B. Prithviraj-trained challenger from Bangalore covered good ground which prompted the race commentator to remark that Karanveer was finishing the best of the lot. But Painted Apache (Ampere – Pure Elation) after tackling N R I Superpower skipped away for a comfortable win over Karanveer. Tiger Mountain ended a tame third ahead of N R I Superpower.

As it transpired later, Prithviraj expressed his dissatisfaction with Sai Kumar’s riding and alleged that Karanveer was ridden contrary to his instructions of going to the front. The stewards found him guilty of “unsatisfactory riding” and slapped a six-meeting ban on Sai Kumar. It’s strange that the stewards found nothing sinister in Karanveer’s loss that too when the trainer of the well-backed contestant complained against the rider for not following instructions and having lost his whip at a crucial stage of the race. So much for maintaining the integrity of the sport!

The MR Chauhan-saddled Ragnarok, who had trailed the field in his previous run three weeks ago, stormed into the lead when the gates opened and raced as if retrofitted with a turbo engine. Ridden by G. Naresh, totally unfancied Ragnarok (Tenth Star – Sweet Caroline) went wire-to-wire over the five and half furlong trip and won easily from the disgraced on-money favourite Silver Act with Hoping Cloud and Deccan Daisy finishing unextended third and fourth respectively. Taking a dim view of his antics in the saddle aboard MS Parmar-groomed Silver Act, which the race-goers watched in disbelief, the stewards imposed a six-meeting ban on B. Nikhil for unsatisfactory riding!

Lesser fancied Ashwa Gajraj also made it to the winner’s enclosure in a start-to-finish affair. Jockey G. Vivek hit the front with G. Shashikanth’s ward and won warding off the threat posed by favourite Encore in the final stages of the seven-furlong event. Encore from K. Satheesh’s yard was installed as favourite following the withdrawal of pre-race hot favourite Proud Mary but the chestnut colt failed to justify the faith imposed in his ability to win by the public. Encore had almost gained the upper hand when ranging alongside Ashwa Gajraj (Moonlight Magic – Hugoshair) about a furlong away from home but A. Imran Khan made heavy weather of his task and lost by a length. Great Giver ran third ahead of Deccan Spirit.

MS Parmar-saddled Stunning Art also looked to be in trouble when Sacred Bond stole a march after taking charge of the running from the runaway leader N R I Fairy in the last furlong of the SN Reddy Memorial Cup run over a mile. However, Stunning Art (Planetaire – Artistic) got into his stride after Suraj Narredu’s frantic efforts and wore down Sacred Bond close home. Veneno once again warmed up late to finish third while Trishul ran an easy fourth.

Anab E Shahi, the piping hot favourite sent out by RH Sequeira, ran true to the expectations of the punters as he travelled on the bit when wresting the initiative from no-hoper Urgent, who showed the way to the field from the gates. A. Imran Khan-ridden Anab E Shahi (Leitir Mor – Tootsie Wootsie) cruised past the leader for a convincing over D Right Time, who ended second without making any impression on the winner. Soorya Vahan was hard-ridden to finish third while Royal Pal ended fourth.

The speedy display given by apprentice RS Jodha-partnered Blissful floored her opposition in a field which had no clear favourite. Blissful (Net Whizz – Incanto Bliss) grabbed the lead soon after the gates flew open and kept going under the whip to frustrate Avancia, who went down by a short-head despite Suraj’s fervent attempts. Dyanoosh, Wind Sprite, Stoic Hero and N R I Fantasy, who all seemed reluctant to put their best foot forward, finished close and in that order behind the runner-up all.

After playing hide and seek during her current campaign, the removal of the tongue-strap probably did the trick for Divine Connection as she finally found her moorings and earned her second career success. The four-year old filly from Satheesh’s yard was entrusted to 5kg-claimer Ekram Alam, who took Divine Connection (Mull of Kintyre – Brunetta) on a successful start-to-finish mission over the six-furlong sprint. Well-fancied D Minchu took a fly jump but recovered the lost ground and went in chase of the winner. She, however, failed to quicken whilst Divine Connection, despite veering out, kicked on to land the spoils. Delhi Heights saved her best for some other day though edging out D Minchu for the second place. Inderdhanush ended fourth.

Deshmukh had a back-to-back double when four-year old Acrobat took the toll of hot favourite Detective. Despite running for the first time this year, Acrobat apparently had not lost his spark and was tuned well for this encounter by Deshmukh. Star Medal and Only My Way headed the field while Suraj rode the 10 t0 8 on favourite Detective off the pace but close behind the leaders. Acrobat (Ampere – Avant Garde), ridden by apprentice Kuldeep Singh, timed his bid perfectly to improve his position from the rear and was soon racing alongside Detective as the field approached the bend. Both Detective and Acrobat entered the straight together but it was the latter who strode out better. Suraj worked hard on Laxman Singh’s protégé Detective, who refused to play ball with his rider and seemed content in playing second fiddle. Dream Station ended third, way behind the favourite while N R I Ultrapower completed the judge’s frame.

Fortunately for both Laxman and Suraj, the Cyrus Poonawalla-owned filly Ruby Red didn’t suffer the same fate as Detective and made her maiden appearance at Malakpet a winning one. Ruby Red (Roderic O’Connor – Black Magic Woman) went into the race as an on-money favourite and gave no anxious moments to the punters as she won the race in a common canter after jumping out smartly from the stalls. Ruby Red won on tight reins and her rivals were simply outclassed all the way over the five and half furlong sprint. Maverick ran on to finish runner-up ahead of Eminency and Dali’s Champion.