Following a whirlwind tour which took her to Bangalore, Mumbai and then Chennai, O Hansini showed no fatigue when she landed in Hyderabad and finally had her ability on display in the Kakatiya Million on Monday. Trained by Mysore-based professional Rakesh, O Hansini was lesser fancied than Rajesh Narredu’s ward from Bangalore, Polished Girl, who was favoured by the terms of the event. Both O Hansini and Polished Girl had faced each other twice and returned victorious on their home turf. However, Polished Girl had beaten O Hansini on the same terms when they last met at Bangalore, which influenced the odds offered by the bookmakers against them. Top-weighted Candy Girl seized the initiative after a fluent start from the gates with Polished Girl held back by Suraj Narredu alongside Ashoka and City Of Bliss whilst O Hansini, with G. Vivek in the saddle, bid her time in the rear bunch. With Polished Girl failing to shine in the straight and Ashoka and City Of Bliss also starting to recede, it was Ashwa Morocco who started to rally. O Hansini had moved up gradually after Vivek switched his path and brought the mare on the outer lane. Meanwhile, Ekram Alam-piloted Candy Girl was hard-pressed to maintain her lead but both Ashwa Morocco and O Hansini (Saamidd – Wajanaat) swooped down on her a hundred metres away from the post with the latter soon surging ahead to assert her superiority. Ashwa Morocco ended runner-up, a neck ahead of Candy Girl. Brilliant Star ended fourth while Polished Girl finished in the ruck.

Leo D’silva-schooled Huntingdon also demonstrated his supremacy from among the four-year old crop when he crushed his seasoned rivals in the Rising Star Plate (Div-II). High Reward assumed his customary front-running role soon after the start and brought the field into the home straight. Beauty Blaze, who was in pursuit of the leader, Malaala, Soloist and Huntingdon all went off the bridle at the distance post. Despite the heavy impost on his back, K. Mukesh Kumar-partnered Huntingdon unleashed a strong run to overpower P. Sai Kumar-ridden Beauty Blaze, who shifted in and seriously hampered the running of Soloist whilst Malaala was also inconvenienced in this melee. Soloist lost her momentum even as Huntingdon (Oiseau De Feu – Glorious Hymn) was steered to safety by Mukesh. Beauty Blaze ended runner-up ahead of Painted Apache who flourished to finish third ahead of Soloist and Malaala. Beauty Blaze was relegated to the fourth spot after the protest of Soloist’s rider against Sai Kumar was upheld.

The six-year old grey Akido had given a hint of his return to form in his previous outing when finishing runner-up in the lower class. K. Satheesh opted to once again pit him in the highest class where his main opponent was the in-form Siddharth. Though going over a mile on this occasion, second favourite Strauss went on a pillar-to-post mission with Siddharth racing handy behind and waiting to pounce on him. Just when Mukesh decided to launch his assault, Strauss veered out under pressure and so did Siddharth. In the meantime, Ekram brought Akido through the shortest way home. Akido (Outstrip – Gift Wrap) produced a splendid turn of foot and stole a march before Siddharth could recover the lost ground. Siddharth did make a gallant effort to catch his rival when Mukesh brought him back into contention but Akido held on and won sparing half-length to the favourite. Strauss finished on to be third ahead of Mysterious Angel.

An identical run produced by N R I Superpower from Hilton Sequeira’s yard enabled the chestnut mare to enter the winner’s enclosure after a gap of over a year. No-hoper Kings Best called the early shots after grabbing the lead from Toffee in the early stages of the mile event and both held the advantage well into the straight. N R I Superpower, who was ridden well off the pace by PS Kaviraj, got a dream run towards the inner rails and came with rapid strides to tackle the leaders. Favourite Blazing Gun, ridden by G. Vivek, was just warming up to his task at this stage and he unleashed a powerful run to join N R I Superpower. But Kaviraj, who had not ridden a winner this season, was not willing to let this scoring opportunity slip away from his hands. He drove N R I Superpower (Win Legend – One Life To Love) resolutely to ward off Blazing Gun, who fell short by a head at the wire. Toffee faded out but managed to finish in the money whilst Detective ran thereabouts to be fourth.

Almost every other winner during the day had been knocking at the doors of success recently and getting closer to achieving success with every outing. Trainer S. Sreekanth picked up both divisions of the Saroornagar Plate with Golden Inzio and Blue Brigade. Golden Inzio was given an easy run in both his previous attempts, ostensibly to gain relegation to the lowest class. Entrusting him to 2.5kg-claimer Ajay Kumar also helped Golden Inzio’s cause as he unleashed a brilliant run down the straight to upset the applecart of Wandring Warrior, who was a rage in the betting market. Kuldeep Singh (Sr.) aboard Wandring Warrior essayed his challenge towards the inner rails initially and then pulled out his mount to overhaul Glimmer Of Hope. The favourite was within kissing distance of the winning post when Golden Inzio (Midnight Interlude – Pour Vous), despite drifting out slightly under pressure, rallied well to nail stable-mate Wandring Warrior near the post. Glimmer Of Hope and Federer followed them home.

Kuldeep however was successful astride Blue Brigade in the concluding event when Blue Brigade (Saamidd – Paramo), whose previous run was a subject of enquiry, finished on with a burst to gain the upper hand over Exeter. Earlier, favourite American Flame tackled Taaliyah and took charge of running but failed to sustain her lead and was overhauled by Exeter and Blue Brigade both. The latter stretched out well to claim the race. Exeter ended second whilst American Flame and Setastar completed the judge’s frame.

Robin Reddy-trained mare Park Lane (Black Cash – Sea Value) ran true to form and produced a brilliant run when alerted by Afroz Khan in the straight. Silver Arrow headed the closely bunched field for about two furlongs from the gates before making way for Royal Pal but none of the front-runners could make any impact. Park Lane entered the home stretch virtually from the last position and Afroz drove the mare purposefully and got her up just in time to vanquish Royal Pal close home. China Town raised some hope in the straight but failed to gather momentum and ended third ahead of Silver Arrow.

G. Shashikanth-saddled Colt Pistol flourished due to his handicap advantage and went on to record his second career success. Favourite Adbhut showed out in the early stages of the sprint and was in command till the last furlong and half before calling it a day even as Colt Pistol (Saamidd – Faustina) came with a terrific run from the rear when Hindu Singh decided to take the shortest route home. Silk went ahead briefly after Adbhut dropped out only to find that Colt Pistol had wrapped up the race with his blistering run. Laurus came from way back to deprive Silk the second berth while Adbhut ended a poor fourth.

After spending almost one and half years on a weight-reducing mission entailing a whopping twenty runs, Neelesh Rawal-nursed mare Beauty Flame was finally raring to go. Jet Falcon seized the initiative soon after the start but threw in her towel with a little over a furlong left for the wire. Meanwhile, NB Kuldeep got Beauty Flame (Whatsthescript – Jack In The Cat) going and wore down Crimson Rose, who chased the leader into the straight. Beauty Flame then sailed clear and won quite easily from favourite Power Ranger, who appeared on the scene when it hardly mattered and finished runner-up. Sadiya ran on to be third ahead of Master Touch.