The Hyderabad Race Club, the only turf club which can boast of being cash rich, is in the business of conducting the sport of horseracing on a weekly basis during the monsoon and winter season. Horseracing became popular post-independence as it offered the spectators a thrill of watching equine athletes in action and also provided an exciting avenue for those who loved to have a punt. Nowadays, however, horseracing faces a threat to its existence primarily due to the government’s taxation policy and the deterioration in the sport’s competitive quotient and lack of integrity has further aggravated the situation. For instance, the six races that went through on Monday were so pathetic that whoever missed visiting Malakpet racecourse would not regret it a bit. One certainly needs to be forgiven if he thought that gymkhana races and not thoroughbred racing was in progress.
 
The start of the day’s programme was no different than Sunday as Shoolin, who did not fit in the punters’ scheme of betting, made a dash to be in the forefront shortly after the gates opened and made rest of the five and half furlong trip for the Shiv Kumar Lal Memorial Cup (Div-II), a winning one. Interestingly, B. Nikhil-steered Shoolin (Stardan – Suki Suki) won sparing a length and quarter to runner-up Her Ladyship, who had beaten her by a margin of nearly twelve lengths during their previous encounter over a similar distance. Her Ladyship and Dontblockmyway both appeared shorn of their initial speed and never looked in a position to oblige their supporters. In fact, Dontblockmyway plodded all the way before ending fifth behind Dream To Fly and Hawk King. Most Beautiful found a silver lining to her chances as Akshay Kumar was assisting her in the saddle but the grey filly faded out to run sixth after racing prominently behind the winner till the last furlong.
 
After the disastrous start, sanity prevailed for the punters as the next five winners justified their top billing. Emerald Touch from Neelesh Rawal’s yard unleashed a powerful run inside the last furlong and half to foil State Man’s winning bid in the six-furlong sprint for the Nalgonda Plate. State Man took charge from leader Live Legend on entering the home stretch before surrendering to Ashhad Asbar-partnered Emerald Touch (Smuggler’s Cove – Carved Emerald) in the last hundred metres. Foxy Girl and Divine Faith both finished far away to be third and fourth respectively.
 
Having shed his maiden status earlier this month, Ananta Vatsalya-groomed Sunny Day completed an encore in the G. Sudhakar Reddy Memorial Cup run over a mile. Sunny Day lay unconcerned in the rear as Amboseli called the shots over a closely bunched field. Elegant Lady was powered into the lead just after crossing the two-furlong marker with Lego attempting to draw closer. Meanwhile, Ajeeth Kumar showed the daylight to Sunny Day at the turn and the bay gelding quickened well to bridge the gap. Sunny Day (Total Gallery – Excellent Day) was forced to switch towards the inner rails to make his bid but the favourite spurted nicely to overwhelm Elegant Lady. Lego ended third ahead of Silver Arrow.
 
Last-outing winner NRI High Power, offered at miserly odds in the betting ring, was up against a moderate set of rivals in the first division of the Shiv Kumar Lal Memorial Cup, which he claimed to make it two in a row. Only The Brave, ridden by P. Sai Kumar in place of Akshay Kumar, made a dashing pillar-to-post attempt and almost upset the applecart of NRI High Power. But Mukesh Kumar plied his whip to good effect to get the Donald Netto trainee going. NRI High Power (Gusto – Keevah) picked up enough speed in the last hundred metres to cause the demise of runner-up Only The Brave’s chances. Mexican Wave finished in the money with Clarity rallying from far behind to be fourth.
 
K. Satheesh decided to run Get Lucky in the highest class after an unsuccessful bid against Nonpareil last month. The chestnut colt justified his master’s faith in his ability by making every post of the nine-furlong endeavour for the Noble Quest Plate a winning one in the hands of Ekram Alam. Get Lucky (Sedgefield – Santamarija Festa) was brushed into the lead by Ekram following which the 5 to 4 against favourite stayed his course despite the brief threat posed by his main adversary Livermore in the straight. Akido showed some zest by improving towards the end to take the second slot ahead of NRI Superpower whilst Livermore finished fourth.
 
The insipid day ended on a dramatic note as money came pouring on Suryavanshi in the betting arena just like the heavy downpour witnessed at the start of the Taj Mahal Plate, the concluding event of the day. MF Ali Khan-saddled Suryavanshi jumped out fluently from the gates to take the pole position and lengthened his strides in the home stretch to win by twenty lengths, almost the same distance when finishing behind the winner last month. Suryavanshi (Saamidd – Maid of Artois) left his rivals fighting for crumbs with Ek (earlier named Tsarina) taking the second berth ahead of Cypress and Smart Operator. The runaway victory of Suryavanshi should be an enlightening experience for the stipes on how the fitting of a tongue-strap and aluminium shoes can bring a sea change in the talent of a horse.