The leading trainer’s title for the monsoon racing season is firmly in trainer Donald Netto’s grip and he continues to saddle winners with regular precision in important events. Netto, who added another brace to his winner’s tally, claimed the Bold Venture Plate on Saturday through Espionage, though he had another runner in last-outing winner One N Only. The presence of Uchchaihshravas in the line-up of six runners ensured that the odds against the three frontline contenders kept fluctuating. Although it was a bit confusing for punters to select between the two Netto trainees, the shrinking of odds against Espionage made it clear where the stable’s money was riding. K. Mukesh Kumar propelled Espionage into the lead as soon as the gates opened and held the advantage over Diablo and Uchchaihshravas, with the order of running remaining unchanged until Diablo retreated inside the final furlong. Neeraj Rawal then sent Uchchaihshravas in pursuit of Espionage (Gusto – Ainra), but Netto’s ward lengthened his stride under pressure and drew away for a convincing victory over his rival. One N Only, the winner’s stablemate, improved only when it least mattered and finished third ahead of Reigning Beauty.
 
Mukesh had earlier steered A. Imran Khan-trained Torobravo, who proved to be too good for the Netto-schooled on-money favourite Pristine Glory in the Rani Rudrama Devi Trophy run over a mile. La Quinta surged into the lead even as Akshay Kumar-piloted Pristine Glory failed to take a level jump. Mukesh settled Torobravo close behind the leader, while Pristine Glory covered lost ground to be with the group at the halfway mark. Federer, who raced alongside Torobravo in the initial stage, tried to intimidate La Quinta from the top of the straight. However, Torobravo (Moonlight Magic – Entente Cordiale) came with a flourishing run to surge past the leaders soon after crossing the two-furlong post and strode away fluently to negate Pristine Glory’s late attempt to catch him. Special Star was outpaced throughout and could only finish third, while La Quinta retired to be fourth.
 
Trainer KSV Prasad Raju, aided by jockey P. Sai Kumar, had a back-to-back double right at the start of the day’s proceedings, claiming both divisions of the Peddapalli Plate through Equine Power and Surrealist. Although lacking initial speed in the six-furlong sprint, Equine Power made steady progress to be in a striking position behind the leader Swiss Girl at the final turn and took charge when the field straightened for home. Surprisingly, the 30 to 1 longshot Lion’s Gate put up stiff resistance against Equine Power (Excellent Art – Equine Lover) but went down by three-quarters of a length as the winner proved to be a hard nut to crack. Varada, the second favourite, also failed to match strides with the winner and finished third, with Sadiya close behind.
 
Surrealist gave a minor scare to his supporters after losing a few lengths at the start and had a lot of ground to make up as Zorinella sped to the front and established a long lead before entering the home straight. Sai Kumar realising the urgency and drove Surrealist vigorously from the halfway mark to tackle Zorinella a furlong away from home. Surrealist (Dali – Arashi) kicked on gamely to record his first win at this centre. As expected, Red Hot Punch took the runner-up berth, while Trust Me finished in the money ahead of Zorinella.
 
Magan Singh Parmar-groomed Kinship was entrusted to Akshay after finishing second in the hands of DS Deora in her previous outing and the filly went out as the odds-on choice to win the Hard Held Plate run over a mile. Svalpaviryasaktih showed the way to the seven-horse field and had Kinship and Victoria Dhora in pursuit. Akshay brought Kinship (Chinese Whisper – Martinique) with an aggressive bid to take charge from the leader and sailed away for her maiden win over runner-up Zorba, who failed to concede weight and lost by a length. Nkalanzinzi ran a distant third, with Hoping Star following her home.
 
Love In Paris was another favourite to oblige the punters as the K. Satheesh-nurtured filly registered her third career success in the Mir Mushtaq Ali Khan Memorial Trophy. Ridden well off the pace by Akshay, Love In Paris raced in the rear pack as no-hoper Sangreal called the early shots and was followed by stablemate Greif. Apprentice Swarup Singh-ridden Greif swooped down on Sangreal in the straight to assume command, however, Love In Paris came with a strong run in the final furlong but was yet to gather momentum. When Akshay gave Love In Paris (French Navy – Translation) a few sharp cracks with his whip, the filly picked up enough speed to wear down Greif close home and gain a half-length victory. NRI Range finished in the money way ahead of Sapporo, who ran a poor fourth.
 
The twists and knots for the punters were saved for the concluding race of the day as there was one-way betting in favour of MF Ali Khan’s ward See My Attitude, the seven-year-old mare who was yet to win a race. As the odds against See My Attitude crashed from 7 to 1 and closed at 5 to 4 against, the odds for the other fancied runners went astray. The punters who chose to follow the market trend and back the eventual favourite burnt their fingers badly. Surya Prakash-ridden See My Attitude raced alongside Niloufer The Great in a striking position behind Amboseli, who was brushed to take the lead position in the Venus De Milo Plate, a no-whip event run over seven furlongs. SSF Hassan-groomed Bold Indian raced in a handy position behind the front runners. Surya Prakash tried to tackle Amboseli on entering the straight, but the mare failed to quicken and could not keep a straight course. Meanwhile, jockey Md. Ismail showed remarkable resilience in getting Bold Indian (David Livingston – Bold and Classy) to move resolutely through the middle and gain the upper hand over Amboseli. See My Attitude made a renewed attempt to catch the winner but fell short by half-length at the wire. Amboseli ran third ahead of Aloy.