Fresh after his success a fortnight ago at Bangalore, five-year old Corinthian carried that winning fitness to Hyderabad, his new home with trainer Donald Netto. Trevor Patel settled Corinthian close behind Armstrong, who set the early pace over the seven furlong trip for the Col. B. Santosh Babu Memorial Trophy, Tuesday’s feature event. He was, however, caught up with and tackled by Corinthian (Western Aristocrat – Well Focused), who took over the running soon after the field straightened for home and skipped away for a comfortable win. Wolf Creek came from way behind but his effort proved too late as he had to be content with the second berth. China Town and Glorious Power filled the other two minor slots on the judges’ board.

'Hit the front the front or sit well up with the leader', seemed to have been the mantra given by trainers to their jockeys and those who rode accordingly reaped success. Before steering Corinthian, Trevor had used similar tactics on Advait by staying on the haunches of N R I Mega Power till they turned for home and then stepped up the speed to go clear of his rivals. Bharath Singh-groomed Advait (Top Class – Kabini) won untroubled thereafter. Master Class, Northern Sky, and Twilight King followed him home.

In the next race, Trevor showed no hesitation in taking La Fleuriere on a start-to-finish mission over the mile-long Malakpet Plate and his decision eventually proved spot on. La Fleuriere (Dreamfield – Chula Vista) led all the way and held on to the advantage, though grimly by a neck in the end from favourite Divine Faith to help Bharath lead in his second maiden winner of the day and also the second of the three winners guided by Trevor. Mountain Touch and Yuvraj ran thereabouts before finishing third and fourth. 

Exploiting the early speed possessed by Magan Singh Parmar-schooled Ek (formerly named Tsarina), Akshay Kumar made every post of the Shamirpet Trophy (Div-I) a winning one. Ek lengthened her strides as the winning post came into sight and left her nearest rivals La Quinta and Zindabad, who chased her throughout, stranded in the final furlong. Valledonna lacked initial speed and finished a tame fourth.

Akshay aboard N R I High Power allowed Born Brave to enjoy the lead till the two-furlong marker and shifted gears to overtake him. Brilliant Lad, who was settled closed behind the front-running pair, also made his presence felt. N R I High Power (Gusto – Keevah) from Netto’s yard, however, stayed on course under Akshay’s strong handling to ward off the threat posed mainly by runner-up Brilliant Lad and Walking Tall, who galloped resolutely from an unfavourable position but could only finish third. D Minchu also rallied well to run a close fourth.

Another horse which was shifted to Hyderabad from SS Attaollahi was See The Light, who had performed well in the current ongoing season at Bangalore. She soon landed in RH Sequeira’s stable. See The Light, racing in the same colours as Corinthian, was off to a brilliant start from the gates and led comfortably till the last hundred metres where Kuldeep Singh (Sr.)-partnered Ayushman started to close on in on the filly. Akshay was lucky to complete his treble after See The Light (Dali – Confiance) found the winning post coming to her rescue as Ayushman fell short by a whisker at the wire. Foxy Girl and Flying Fury came third and fourth respectively.

Just a day after he saddled the winner Diablo, KSV Prasad Raju had another ace up his sleeve in Greif, who had previously won thrice in four starts. With P. Sai Kumar in the saddle, Greif  (Sanus Per Aquam – Songlark) lacked initial speed but made up for it by unleashing a devastating run in final run-in, which caught even the race commentator by surprise. Earlier, Akshay-piloted Dashing Charm hit the front from the gates and had a handy lead coming into the straight before Greif swooped down on him in the last fifty metres to secure victory by just under a length. Both Dubai Touch and Arthisha faded out after racing up in the front to finish third and fourth respectively.

Tuned to moment by A. Imran Khan, the piping-hot favourite Daring Spirit proved too good for his rivals at the start of the day’s proceedings. Suraj Narredu kept Daring Spirit a handy second behind Mysore Pharoah before releasing the breaks opposite the stands. Daring Spirit (Gusto – Outrageous) uncoiled a terrific run thereafter to take charge from Mysore Pharoah and drew away for an emphatic win, the first of his career. Analysis ended second, well ahead of Mysore Pharoah while Cypress was fourth.