Lesser fancied than both Alabama and Mandela, LVR Deshmukh-schooled Lucky Zone unleashed a terrific run in the last furlong and half of the mile journey as he went on to claim the K. Srinivas Reddy Memorial Cup. Interestingly, Lucky Zone, when ridden by Ajeeth Kumar in his previous outing, had literally knocked off favourite Strauss from the contest and on this occasion he gave a drubbing to the first two favourites. Alabama from trainer Laxman Singh’s barns garnered maximum support in the betting with Mandela going out as second-in-demand. But both of them caused distress to the punters with their performance, below par to be precise. Alabama, incidentally, flopped for the second successive time.

Alabama lost a good bit of her chances soon after the start as she went diagonally across towards the inner rails instead of racing forth. Meanwhile, last-outing winner Mandela shot into the lead and it seemed that Akshay Kumar had set the M. Srinivas Reddy-saddled colt on another successful start-to-finish mission. But that proved to be an illusion as Mandela started losing pace even as apprentice Kuldeep Singh got Lucky Zone (One Lucky Dane – Lady Sergeant) going and swooped down on the second favourite. Mandela offered little resistance and Lucky Zone streaked clear for his third career win. Alabama recovered lost ground to join the field at the turn and then closed in on the leaders. But the filly ridden by rookie Ajay Kumar was a spent force by the time she ranged alongside Mandela, who held on grimly to the runner-up slot. Top-weighted Miss Marvellous finished on fast but could only deny Alabama the third place.

The ongoing trend of smart money making the mare go or sly manipulations making it hard for horses to successfully carry the public’s purse on their back continues unabated at Malakpet. After failing twice in her preceding two runs, MS Parmar-groomed Silver Act probably had the right money riding on her which got the grey filly to get into her act in the Aditya L1 Plate and her task was rendered easy by the weak set of rivals. The on-money favourite was ridden on this occasion by Vivek G. and he made no mistake astride Silver Act and kept her close on the heels of stable-mate Shazia, who headed the field from the gates, and overhauled her as soon as they turned for home. Flashing Memories tried to match strides with Silver Act (Saamidd – Angarika) at that juncture but the winner stretched out for an easy win. Bold Beauty laboured hard to finish in the money ahead of Shazia.

KSV Prasad Raju’s ward Alexina also ran true to the market expectations as money flowed her way whilst the odds against ante post favourite Crimson Rose expanded during the pre-race betting round. Mr Perfect seized the initiative when the starter’s flag came down and was joined by Crimson Rose and Alexina. As the race came to a boil, apprentice Ajay Kumar set Alexina (Western Aristocrat – Alexandrite) into motion and gained the upper hand over his two rivals with just a little over a furlong left for home. The three horses were running abreast when fighting for supremacy but Crimson Rose couldn’t get a clear run as Alexina shifted in before assuming command. Crimson Rose failed to concede weight to the winner and ended second with Mr Perfect finishing third. Delhi Heights warmed up late to complete the judge’s board.

Unlike Alabama, the odds against Laxman Singh-trained Baisa witnessed no adverse movement in the betting arena and the bay mare defied the handicapper to register an encore. Entrusted to lesser-known jockey Deepak Singh, Baisa (Declaration of War – Firebird) went surging past Rising Queen and Red Snaper shortly after the gates opened and made every post of the five and half furlong sprint a winning one. Red Snaper chased the winner throughout the straight but was well and truly beaten for speed. The aged gelding finished second ahead of Sopranos, who was hard-ridden by Akshay but was outpaced. Cabello ran on from the rear to finish fourth.

Srinivas Reddy-trained Happy Go Lucky, who had played second fiddle twice earlier this season, jumped out smartly from the stalls to hit the front and was never headed thereafter. Ashhad Asbar-ridden Happy Go Lucky (Top Class – Lucky) was nagged by Only The Brave in the straight but the mare eventually snuffed out his challenge to emerge victorious. Clefairy was the fastest moving horse in the straight but the trip was obviously too sharp for the filly and she could only manage to beat Divine Connection for fourth place. Favourite Sweet Dancer never raised a fluent gallop from the word go and A. Vatsalya’s candidate couldn’t feature on the judge’s frame despite  Vivek’s show of desperation in the saddle.

There was no such problem faced by China Town, sent out an hour later by Vatsalya and who raced in the same colours as Sweet Dancer. Vivek eased China Town into the lead as the field of six embarked on the mile and three furlong mission and the four-year old bay set his own sweet pace as he returned home victorious. Voice of a Dream, who was backed to the exclusion of her rivals, raced abreast of Advanced Guard as they chased China Town but the filly from Deshmukh’s string made no impression though apprentice Kuldeep went all out in the straight. Hoping Sky ran on to finish as runner-up, well ahead of Voice of Dream, who cut a sorry figure in the end. Life is Good ended a tame fourth. 

The Nalgonda Plate, at the outset, appeared to be a three-way contest but it was reduced to a straight fight between Fara and Rising Tycoon after favourite Sangreal was declared a non-starter at the gates. Soorya Vahan made the initial running with A. Imran Khan-ridden Rising Tycoon in close attendance. Last-outing winner Rising Tycoon (Be Safe – Rising Rainbow) moved ahead smoothly on entering the home stretch and easily tackled Soorya Vahan. Fara, who became the first favourite on default after Sangreal’s withdrawal, was asked for an effort by Asbar in the last lap but the filly failed to quicken as SSF Hassan-nurtured Rising Tycoon cantered home for an encore. Soorya Vahan held on to the third spot from Sweet Whisper who came from way behind to finish fourth.