The Qutab Shahi Million, the highlight of Saturday’s card, was contested by just five runners and a majority of race-goers refused to look beyond trainer Srinivas Reddy’s candidate Siddharth as far as his winning chances were concerned. The four-year old bay was in rousing form and with the best jockey on the Indian racing circuit to guide his fortunes, Siddharth was the obvious on-money favourite to win the feature event. Despite their prolific career record, Priceless Gold, the oldest horse in the fray, and Candy Girl were both lesser fancied than Siddharth. The chances of the five-year old mare Candy Girl hailing from K. Satheesh’s yard were overlooked primarily due to her poor show in her previous essay. But that run was treated as an aberration by Candy Girl (Net Whizz – Frizbee) and she made her rivals dance to her tunes all the way over the mile journey in the hands of Ekram Alam. Huntingdon, Siddharth, Priceless Gold and Black Onyx were in futile chase of the winner throughout and ended in that order. Candy Girl was not really tested en route to her eighth career victory as she left her fighting for the consolation berths.

Trevor had another assignment astride the fancied mare Barbet in the day’s concluding event. But the mare schooled by Laxman Singh has turned to be a blood-sucker since she last entered the winner’s circle in December 2022. Be that as it may, Ivanhoe set the early pace and a perfect one for LVR Deshmukh-trained Divine Destiny, whose chances appeared better than his two stable colleagues, or so it seemed. Jockey Surya Prakash had Divine Destiny racing in close contention of Ivanhoe till the bend and took over the mantle as he and his barn-mates entered the straight ahead of the rest. Divine Destiny (Sedgefield – Friendly) streaked clear and went on to score a comfortable win. Despite being ridden flat out by Trevor in the last furlong or so, Barbet couldn’t find her rhythm and ended a disappointing third, a length behind Lady Danger. Path of Peace ran fourth.

KSV Prasad Raju-nursed Alexina, a failed favourite in the race won by Life’s Living last month, was another winner who made the punters pay the price for ignoring her chances. D. Netto-saddled Life’s Living was the piping-hot favourite in the race but the Laxman Singh-groomed filly was beaten for initial speed on this occasion by Santosh Raj-piloted Alexina, who seized the initiative as soon as the gates flew open and was never headed at any stage of the scurry. Life’s Living, with apprentice Shivansh in the saddle, looked poised to pounce upon the leader when the heads turned for home. But the favourite veered out under pressure while, on the other hand, Alexina (Western Aristocrat – Alexandrite) skipped clear while hugging the rails. Classical Music ended second ahead of Red Snaper and Silk. Life’s Living finished off the board.

The other three winners during the day were all carrying the right money on their backs and they duly obliged the market forces. G. Sandeep trained D Battle was backed to the exclusion of her rivals following a promising show when finishing a close third in the lowest class earlier this month. Carrying feather-weight on her back as she was placed in the higher class and ridden by a 3.5kg-claimer, D Battle (Declaration of War – Oh So Romantic) made every post of the six-furlong race a winning in the hands of Ajay Kumar. D Battle won untroubled and had Miracle Mary finishing second with a late effort whilst Assured Success and Coming Home followed her home.

Trainer B. Mukesh Kumar’s ward The Thunder was also backed with a similar enthusiasm and the result was not any different. The Thunder landed the spoils with jockey Ashhad Asbar taking him on a successful pillar-to-post mission. Although the withdrawal of Santa Barbara and Bellaque’s tardy start made matters easy for the winner, the other speedsters in the race were curiously outpaced as The Thunder (Declaration of War – Days of Thunder) logged in her second straight success. Plethora edged out Wind Sprite close home to earn the runner-up berth while Calista Girl finished fourth.

Strauss from Magan Singh Parmar’s yard had money flowing one-way in his direction in the betting arena during race time and not surprisingly, the favourite recorded an authoritative victory. Assigned in the trustworthy hands of Akash Rajput, the latest Delhi-based jockey to arrive at Malakpet, Strauss made gradual progress from the rear as Amyra called the shots and was followed by Bangor On Dee and Mark My Day. On turning for home, Rajput brought Strauss (Multidimensional – Enchufla) into contention even as Alabama, who was brushed up to be with the leaders after a lethargic start, was making his retreat. Strauss was ridden vigorously in the home stretch to breeze past the three front-runners and won well from Royal Grace. Sun Dancer ran on to beat Bangor On Dee for the third spot. Alabama ended dead last.