When a seven-race card with a majority of races for maiden juveniles and horses from the lower class is thrust upon racegoers, they have no way to study the form. Instead, the punters are left doing guesswork and praying that their hunch about probable winners proves correct. Sunday’s racing was nothing but a case in point. Of course, the punters did not suffer a rout but there were a couple of winners which, considering their past performance, defied logic.
 
That said, NRI Triple Power emerged as one of the clear favourites to oblige. Donald Netto-trained NRI Triple Power, an expensive but controversial failure in her previous outing, proved that performance was anything but true. Patronized currently by Netto, jockey Shivam found NRI Triple Power entrusted to him in the Telangana & Andhra Sub Area Trophy. Shivam rode the favourite off the pace but sat well up as Lucky Zone headed the field and following him were Dapper Look and Shadow of the Moon. Making a steady move along the way, Shivam unleashed NRI Triple Power on the outside as the field entered the straight and the filly uncoiled her trademark acceleration to draw level with Lucky Zone inside the last furlong and a half. NRI Triple Power (Gusto – Ascension) zoomed forth in a trice and the winner was sighted a long way from home. The filly recorded her fourth career win emphatically, well clear of runner-up Corte Madera, who should benefit from this outing. Silver Act and Bhairava found the winner far too superior and finished third and fourth respectively.
 
The astute placement of Netto was instrumental in My Honey’s success in the concluding event, which gave him and Shivam a double. Lesser fancied than American Affair, My Honey was not favourably placed as Kantha and Swiss Girl disputed the early lead but improved rapidly to join the pack and races behind American Affair. My Honey came wide into the straight and then drifted out a bit, but Shivam quickly got him to race him on an even keel. Meanwhile, as American Affair was about to tackle Aditya, My Honey (Well Done Fox – Show Off) quickened well to overtake American Affair enroute her maiden win. Aditya saved place money while December Caspian came with a big run to finish fourth.
 
Trainer LVR Deshmukh and jockey Ajeeth Kumar dominated the day’s proceedings with three winners. With pre-race favourite Northern Sky withdrawn before the race, the betting centred around Gacchanmanasvin and Materiality. Miri led in the early part of the sprint and had Gacchanmanasvin and Materiality in close attendance. On reaching the two-furlong marker, Ajeeth powered Materiality to gain the upper hand even as Neeraj Rawal tried to get Gacchanmanasvin to put her best foot forward, which she could not. Meanwhile, Ashwa Jaffna came from way back to challenge Materiality (French Navy – Mykonos), but she kicked on gamely to claim the first division of the Sultan Pheroze Plate by just under a length. Gacchanmanasvin ran third ahead of Miri.
 
Materiality’s half-brother Mystical Dawn won the Northern Dancer Plate beating last-outing winner Catch The Worm by a similar margin. Mykonos jumped out smartly from the gates and led narrowly from Catch The Worm and Tootsie Darling, who fought for her head in the initial stages of the race, in pursuit. Mystical Dawn (Smuggler’s Cove – Mykonos) was ridden vigorously by Ajeeth to maintain the lead and succeeded in doing so by warding off Catch The Worm. Divine Secret, who had won twice during last monsoon and was making an appearance after a year, finished on impressively to be third ahead of Tootsie Darling.
 
Quintessential, though carrying the backbreaking burden of 62kg on her back, proved too good for her opponents in the Fairway Plate, a mile event for horses in the lowest class. Ajeeth allowed Zorinella, Surya Vahan, and Beech Wood to show the way to the field in the initial stages and settled Quintessential beautifully, waiting for the opportunity to pounce upon them. Making his intentions clear soon, Ajeeth eased Quintessential (Lucifer Sam – Queen of Windsor) through the shortest way home at the final turn and established a lead, which proved unassailable. American Gangster warmed up late to finish second ahead of Beech Wood and Hoping High. Golden Bourbon probably pulled up lame in the home stretch and dislodged Akshay Kumar from the saddle.
 
Queen Dali, the debutant from S. Sreekant’s yard, attracted enough money to make her the odds-on favourite to win the Sultan Pheroze Plate (Div-II), but it all went down the drain. After chasing Svalpaviryasaktih till the final furlong, Akshay powered Queen Dali into the lead. In the meantime, however, Rafique Sk.-ridden and RH Sequeira-schooled NRI Crypto Power (Dreamfield – Suzanna), who had finished down the field on debut at the start of the season, came with raking strides in the home stretch to force Queen Dali into submission. French Lieutenant ran on late towards the end to deny Queen Dali the runner-up spot while Trend Setter ran fourth.
 
Srinivas Reddy’s ward NRI Star was the firm favourite to win the Three Wishes Plate, run over nine furlongs but failed to live up to the expectations of his followers. NRI Star hit the front, defying jockey Afroz Khan’s attempt to restrain her and led till entering the straight. The favourite lost pace thereafter allowing Exclusive Luck to assume command. A. Imran Khan-groomed Exclusive Luck was then hard ridden to sustain the lead but was overhauled close home by AA Vikrant-piloted Silver Arrow (Royal Gladiator – Cuix One), his stablemate. The grey gelding lasted out to win from Hoping Star, Exclusive Luck, and Take A Breath, who followed him home. NRI Star ended up way down the field to be last.