Almost two and a half years after her previous success, the A. Imran Khan-nursed seven-year-old mare Clefairy inflicted a humiliating defeat on Noble Heart and Krystallos, the heavily fancied duo in the K. Srinivas Reddy Memorial Trophy on Monday. Ajeeth Kumar once again eased Krystallos into the lead after the eight-horse field started its seven-furlong journey, while Shah of Iran, Clefairy, and Vital Sign were in close attendance. The on-money favourite lacked early speed and raced in the rear. As Krystallos searched for acceleration after entering the home stretch, AA Vikrant brought Clefairy (Kingda Ka – Sinetta) into contention and fought a stirring duel with the former until she overwhelmed him in the last hundred metres. Akshay Kumar applied immense pressure on Donald Netto-schooled Noble Heart in the straight, but the favourite was unable to quicken and could only manage to shunt Vital Sign to the fourth place.
 
Akshay rode Vinfast to victory in the Nearco Plate (Div-II), the opening event for maiden juveniles. Trend Setter slipped into the lead early into the 1100-metres sprint and was soon joined on the outside by Neelesh Rawal-trained Vinfast, while Divine Strides chased them. With over a furlong left for home, Akshay powered Vinfast (Sporting Chance – Virasat) to get the measure of Trendsetter and sped away for a decisive victory. Trend Setter lost the momentum towards the end and finished third behind runner-up Divine Strides while Svalpaviryasaktih improved late to be fourth.
 
The debutant filly My Touch from Netto’s stables gave a speedy display to go surging ahead in the upper division of the Nearco Plate giving the on-money favourite Modin a scare. However, Ajeeth packed enough punch in his riding to steer LVR Deshmukh-saddled Modin (Well Done Fox – Exemplary) to a slender win over My Touch. Costa Mesa ran third in front of another debutant War Captain, who was outpaced and ran green throughout. War Captain attracted solid support in the betting arena and those who wagered on his chances surely regretted their decision.
  
The five-year-old mare First Lady, who had lost by a whisker to Tiger Ruby during their previous encounter, was expected to make amends and avenge her defeat as she had the handicap in her favour on this occasion. First Lady called the early shots as Akshay eased her into the lead, while Armstrong and Lifes Journey went in pursuit. MF Ali Khan’s ward Tiger Ruby, who had a lot of smart money riding on him again, looked to be in trouble when First Lady crossed the two-furlong marker. However, jockey Darshan RN persevered with Tiger Ruby (Phoenix Tiger – Rubyanne), who stretched out under the whip to pip First Lady, who too was ridden vigorously by Akshay, in his last stride. Armstrong retired to the third position and so did Lifes Journey who ran fourth.
 
Akshay again had to sweat hard astride favourite Mix The Magic from Magan Singh Parmar’s yard. Swiss Girl set the pace from the gates until Golden Unicorn tackled her at the two-furlong post. Ridden by apprentice Arjun Singh, Golden Unicorn was in charge for a furlong or so before Akshay went all out on Mix The Magic (Planetaire – Atmosphere), who pinned down the leader with a late surge in the final moments of the six-furlong sprint. Arthisha ran prominently but made no significant improvement before ending third. Winning Attitude ran fourth after failing to quicken.
 
Hurricane Wave and Una Paloma Blanca cornered a majority of the betting in the last race leading to the expansion of odds against Bold Beauty. Taaliyah made the initial running only to surrender the lead to Hurricane Wave when the field turned for home. Afroz Khan-steered Hurricane Wave was in control of the running till the last hundred metres but fought a grim battle for survival as Bold Beauty came charging at him. Rawal-groomed Bold Beauty, when alerted to her task by P. Sai Kumar, took the shortest route before making a strong bid to snuff out Hurricane Wave’s resistance. Bold Beauty (Sanus Per Aquam – Celestrella) scampered home for a convincing win over Hurricane Wave. Dhanadeepa was third, while Sargent ran fourth. Una Paloma Blanca was never sighted at the finish and ran off the judges’ board.