Barely twenty-four hours after rank outsider Brave Beauty shocked her opponents at Pune, the glorious uncertainties of horse-racing came into play once again when Alexina donkey-licked her fancied opponents in the Chief Minister’s Cup on Sunday. KSV Prasad Raju-nursed Alexina, widely recognised as a good sprinter, had ventured beyond six furlongs only twice recently during her 21 appearances on the race-track. The four-year old chestnut filly, it seems, has a mind of her own of which her connections obviously have no clue about! Regardless, Akshay Kumar-partnered Miss Maya was the even-money favourite to win the seven-furlong race with Great Guns and Reigning Beauty next in demand in the betting ring. When the gates flew open, Alexina spurted into the lead with Reigning Beauty and Miss Maya in close attendance. The 20 to 1 longshot ridden by Santosh Raj still had a comfortable lead when she led the field into the home stretch whilst Akshay brought Miss Maya into contention. Despite Akshay’s desperate efforts, Miss Maya failed to quicken whilst Alexina was in no mood to slow down as anticipated by her rivals. Alexina, however, was inclined to veer out in the straight but Santosh did not let his guard down. He controlled her with an iron grip and kept his mount on course to victory,  After Reigning Beauty and Miss Maya’s mission folded up, Alexina’s barn-mate Great Guns came with a flourishing run but it was all in vain as the filly kicked on to register a stunning upset. Great Guns ended second ahead of late-finishing Kancha, who pegged back Miss Maya for the third slot.
 
Akshay’s second failure was aboard the well-fancied White Pearl, who was upstaged by the apprentice Shivansh-partnered Alpine Girl. China Town decided to make the initial running on this occasion and disputed the lead with Divine Destiny till half-way through the mile and quarter journey before increasing his speed and stretching out to be well ahead of his rivals. Ajeeth Kumar-piloted China Town came all alone into the straight with White Pearl trying to bridge the gap and Alpine Girl also making gradual progress to be in close tow. It was only after China Town slowed down in the last furlong did Akshay urge White Pearl into the lead but the grey filly soon encountered the fierce onslaught of Alpine Girl. Jasbir Singh-saddled Alpine Girl (Sedgefield – Pickwick Papers) collared White Pearl in a trice and defeated the latter by a margin of half-length. Joint-favourite Original Sin ran hopelessly throughout and could finish a faraway third only because China Town faded out.
 
These two failures aside, Akshay’s brilliance in the saddle was on display earlier when he guided both Adbhut and Dapper Look to victory. The on-money favourite Adbhut set sail for a wire-to-wire mission over the five and half furlong scurry and led the field into straight where Shadow Fax, who was in chase throughout caught up with him in the last two furlongs. Apprentice Likith Appu-piloted Shadow Fax gained the upper hand and led briefly. But, just when it seemed all over for the favourite, Akshay dug into the reserves of Adbhut and received a fantastic response from the Leo D’Silva trainee. Adbhut (Dali – Dysnomia) regained the lead and drew away for a comprehensive win. Shadow Fax had to settle for second place with Fara gradually improving to finish third. Pontefract, who ended fourth, was content taking the backseat on this occasion and allowed her stable-mate to corner the glory. 
 
Later, Akshay showed remarkable resolve astride Dapper Look when dousing the hopes of Queen Empress nearer home. No-hoper Classy Dame sprinted ahead with Queen Empress and Only The Brave chasing her whilst Dapper Look was ridden off the pace and raced in the mid-bunch. As the heads turned for home, Abhay Singh brought Queen Empress with a blazing run to steal a march over Classy Dame, Caraxes and Only The Brave. Akshay also stirred Dapper Look into action and went hunting for Queen Empress along with Crown Witness. Abhay went flat out aboard Queen Empress and fought a pitched battle with Dapper Look in the last half furlong. However, K. Satheesh-saddled Dapper Look (Sedgefield – Song Dynasty) gained ground with every stride and eventually got the better of Queen Empress by a neck in the last couple of strides. Crown Witness ended way behind to be third ahead of Alcahol Free, who came from the last position to be fourth.
 
Akshay completed a treble in the last race atop Antidote, who wore down Eminency in the last half furlong. Eminency and Great Giver disputed the lead and were followed by Antidote and Assured Success. Eminency, though in command when turning for home, was joined and passed by Assured Success, who came through the inner rails to make his bid. After flattering for a while, Assured Success surrendered the lead back to Eminency. But Antidote produced a flourishing run when hard pressed by Akshay in the final run-in to soon draw level with Eminency and the Ravinder Singh-saddled filly got stronger at the finish and finally shed her maiden status. Eminency retained the runner-up berth from late-moving Windsor with Mix The Magic completing the judges’ frame. Despite her history of failing to take a level jump from the gates, Lady Racines received enthusiastic support in the betting. She took a tardy jump and never raised any hopes and finished down the field. Mix The Magic got a free run towards the inner rails and took the shortest route home but her hopes of making an impact at the finish were dashed after she met severe interference from Assured Success about a furlong away from home. 
 
Magan Singh Parmar’s ward Amigo lived up to the promise shown in his previous run to justify the favouritism against an ordinary set of maidens at the start of the day. K. Mukesh Kumar rode Amigo well off the pace as Peppi called the early shots and had Anemoi and Hoping Queen in tow. Mukesh got Amigo to launch his assault on the entering the straight and slowly but surely got closer to Peppi. With about half furlong to go for home, Amigo (Planetaire – Nuray) tackled Peppi and scampered home under the whip. Peppi finished second well ahead of Rani Ruckus and Hoping Queen.
 
Mukesh achieved a double when steering B. Mukesh Kumar-groomed The Thunder to a convincing win in the Asif Jah VII Memorial Cup (Div-II). The Thunder (Declaration Of War – Days Of Thunder) was off to a brilliant start from the gates and was never headed thereafter as she made every post of the six-furlong journey a winning one. Ragnarok, the favourite, was outpaced throughout but finished second ahead of Lady Danger and Winning Attitude.