Trainer Laxman Singh seems to be a man on a mission this winter; a week after saddling five winners he led in a popular double – Brilliant Lad and Malaala on Sunday. Malaala tried in vain to hit the bull’s-eye for almost a year during seven spaced-out runs following her previous win in last November, the chestnut mare finally found the mark this week. Trevor Patel rode a well-judged race astride Malaala, the even-money favourite, when allowing speedy Best Buddy to make the early dash. Trevor kept Malaala in close attendance of Best Buddy and High Reward till entering the final lap of the six-furlong trip for the HP Mistry Memorial Cup and then let her loose. Malaala (Kingda Ka – Ashtoh) stepped up the pace to go surging past Best Buddy inside the last two furlongs and had the race sewn up well before Last Wish could gather momentum. The latter ended second while Best Buddy, despite losing pace, ended third ahead of High Reward in the small field of five. Alexina struggled throughout and ended last.
 
The two-year old chestnut colt Brilliant Lad was well-tuned by Singh for a winning debut and the on-money favourite did not disappoint over the five and half furlong sprint. Suraj Narredu went straight down to business with Brilliant Lad (Lord Admiral – Sunflower) as soon as the start was given and won handsomely after leaving his rivals fighting for the minor places in the straight. State Man, Dontblockmyway and Dubai Touch were spread out in a single file when finishing in that order behind the winner. 
 
Before achieving a treble astride Malaala, Trevor had a back-to-back double when steering Kalki and Anemoi to victory. Bharath Singh-trained Kalki, who had found the winning post eluding him after a successful debut in January last, at last found his moorings when accounting for favourite Gatiman in the Ch. V. Lakshmi Prasad Rao Sirdesai Sircilla Memorial Cup run over six furlongs. Rolls Royce was pushed to hit the front with K. Mukesh Kumar-partnered Gatiman settled beautifully on his heels whilst Kalki raced in the mid-bunch behind Star Forever and Knotty Senorita. When the field entered the home stretch, Mukesh alerted Gatiman and started to close in on the leader. However, just when the favourite was about to gain the upper hand, Kalki (Speaking of Which – Daffodil) unleashed a splendid turn of foot when asked for an effort by Trevor. Kalki came with a powerful run to collar both Gatiman and Rolls Royce at the two-furlong marker and sailed away for a convincing win. Gatiman ended second whilst Star Forever was hard-ridden by P. Sai Kumar to wrest the third place from Rolls Royce close home.
 
Soon thereafter, Trevor guided Anemoi to a hard-earned victory when the Neelesh Rawal trainee wore down favourite Queen Empress and Planet Super in the dying moments of the mile trip. Planet Super spurted into the lead with Queen Empress racing well up with the pace whilst Anemoi raced unconcerned in the mid-bunch. As Planet Super led the field into the straight, Akshay Kumar brought Queen Empress into the contention and it appeared that she would easily tackle the leader. Planet Super, however, was in a contentious mood as he held on grimly till the final hundred metres. Meanwhile, Anemoi moved steadily to go hunting for the pair ahead from the two-furlong marker but it took several sharp cracks from Trevor's whip for him to get into the stride. Once he found his rhythm, Anemoi (Air Support - Jezzabelle) went storming into the lead leaving the eventual runner-up Queen Empress and Planet Super stunned. DAS ran thereabouts to be fourth.
 
Hilton Sequeira-nursed filly Tiger Ruby upset the applecart of Clara, the hot favourite hailing from trainer S. Sreekant’s stables. Clara was backed to the exclusion of her eight rivals on the back of her narrow defeat at the hands of Pleasant Star on her debut three months ago. The on-money favourite, however, came across a better one in Tiger Ruby on this occasion. Imran Chisty-driven Clara didn’t have the smoothest of starts while N R I Dheera seized the initiative and took charge of the running over the seven-furlong trip even as Tiger Ruby graced the wrong end of the field. Clara made steady improvement to initially tackle Lady Jane and Total Control before joining the issue with N R I Dheera in the straight. N R I Dheera refused to buckle under pressure and fought every inch of the penultimate furlong with Clara. While these two horses were disputing the issue, Akshay triggered a brilliant gallop at the top of the straight from Tiger Ruby following which the bay gelding came with giant strides to overrun both Clara and N R I Dheera in the final furlong. Tiger Ruby (Phoenix Tower – Rubyanne) posted a convincing two-length victory over Clara, who finished an identical distance ahead of N R I Dheera while Total Control ended a faraway fourth.
 
Akshay completed a double when Darling’s Boy justified the sustained support he received in the betting ring in the concluding race of the day. MF Ali Khan-groomed Darling’s Boy was settled close on the haunches of Inderdhanush who showed the way to the field and had Star Cruise racing abreast. Akshay gave Darling’s Boy (Surfrider – That’s My Darling) his head as soon as the field turned for home and kept the favourite going under the whip once he took control of the running. Winning Attitude threw a late challenge at the winner but had to settle for the second berth ahead of Star Cruise and Silver Lining.
 
Sreekant-saddled Just Incredible saw enthusiastic support coming his way in the betting arena and the Kuldeep Singh (Sr) ridden seven-year old was right on the money. Lights On made a start-to-finish bid with Quality Warrior and See My Attitude in hot pursuit while Just Incredible bided his time in the fifth spot. Kuldeep-astride Just Incredible launched his assault once the field had straightened for home even as Lights On started to veer out under pressure in the final run-in, hampering Quality Warrior’s run in the process. In the final furlong, Lights On, Quality Warrior, Just Incredible and Park Lane were all engaged in a fierce battle. However, it was Just Incredible (Sedgefield – Blitz Kiss) who got stronger at the finish and managed to deliver the goods for his connections. Park Lane took the second spot with Quality Warrior managing to finish in the money ahead of Lights On.
 
The relentless pressure applied by S. Saqlain on Worcester in the home stretch enabled the Leo D’Silva-schooled favourite to foil speedy Classy Dame’s pillar-to-post bid in the day’s curtain raiser. Classy Dame with RS Jodha on her back slipped into the lead as is her wont and wouldn’t yield when challenged by Worcester shortly after entering the final run-in. Both horses waged a pitched battle as the winning line neared but it was the strong handling of Saqlain which helped Worcester (Dali – Isle of Avalon) to prevail over Classy Dame by half-length in the shadow of the winning post. Shadow Baby’s late rally could only earn her the third place ahead of Golden Inzio.