Iaepetus, the property of Dr & Mrs Syed Ainuddin Arif and Mr Suresh Kumar Reddy, carried the top weight of 62 kilograms to a pillar-to-post victory in The Ghulam Ahmed Memorial Cup, the main event of the nine race card on Sunday at Hyderabad. Jockey P.B. Beggy had replaced Daniel Grant, on Shehzad Abbas-trained Iaepetus (Major Impact-Limelite)and the Irishman did full justice to his mount. Beggy nursed Iaepetus to take the forward position in the seven-horse field and on entering the home straight enhanced the lead, which ultimately came to his rescue as Vijayrath covered ground in the last 100 metres.

Vijayrath fell short by a ‘neck’ while Carte Blanche and Sparks filled the frame. The supporting event of the day, The Addhra Sub-Area Cup was divided into two races. Both the divisions were won by horses ridden by apprentice jockeys. P. Venkat rode Deshmukh-trained Vijaysiddanth (Razeen-Divinity) to a clear victory in the higher division. Vijaysiddanth took charge approaching the final 300 metres and stretched out to win by a clear margin. Modest Bride and Divine Ganges fought out for the minor places and the two were joined by the favourite Arya as they passed the winning post.

The bottom-weighted The Himalayas (International-Small Virtue) won the lower division in the hands of apprentice G. Sai Vamshi. Coming inside the final furlong, Blazing Asian went past the leader Dance Baby Dance and looked to wrap it up but that was not to be as The Himalayas unleashed a run in the final 50 metres to fly past Blazing Asian. Jabel Queen, the shortest priced runner of the day, was struggling in about fifth position, rounding the final bend and was never sighted after that. It was reported that she was trotting lame after the race. Jockey P.S. Chouhan continued his dominance with a good double in the afternoon. He pocketed both the divisions of The Zoom Zoom Plate.

Narayan Rao’s Sugar Gold (Fact Finder-Eminency) was ridden to a start-to-finish win in the higher division. P.S. had Sugar Gold a safe distance in front of Standing Ovation right from the start and never let him get the better till the finish. Kohinoor Magic and Classic Ruby filled the frame. Chouhan rode S. Habeebullah’s China Pearl (Dark Nile-After Dawn) to a well-calculated win in the lower division. The speedy China Pearl was taken to the front and Chouhan waited in front till the last 150 metres, without applying pressure on the mare. P.S. rode her out inside the final 150 metres and the mare responded well to score a well-deserved victory.

Tiara got the better of Cool Spice in the last 50 metres to take the runner-up berth. M. Sathyanarayana’s Windsor Manor (Placerville-Amber Windsor) made a winning debut in The Chaitanya Ratham Plate, a race for two-year-old maiden horses. Positioning herself well, in between River Side and Silver Lid as they entered the home stretch, Windsor Manor surged ahead and held on from the late-finishing Swiss Don. The rider of Swiss Don, Daniel Grant, raised an objection against S. Shoban Babu, the rider of Winsor Manor, for bumping him near the final bend whereby he lost balance and had to make his move after recovering. The stewards after viewing the replay several times overruled the objection. One could very clearly see that Swiss Don was never interfered by Windsor Manor and the objection was frivolous in nature. In fact, Daniel has to be blamed for travelling in and out on the straight and opting to make his move through three horses fighting in front while the entire track was for himself in his original path.

Daniel reported pain in his leg after the race and he was replaced in his other rides of the day. Laxman Singh’s Splendid Knock (Hymn-Freedom) shot through three runners, Senorita, Good Shot and Rocking Rocket to score an emphatic victory in the higher division of The Ballo Plate. Good Shot managed to finish second, ahead of Rocking Rocket and Senorita. The lower division was won by Anupam Sharma trained Kathakali (Case Law-Zehera). Ridden by apprentice G. Sai Vamshi, Kathakali tracked Chayanandan till the top of the straight and surged ahead to open a wide gap. Splendid Show gathered momentum in the last 100 metres, closed the gap with a fast run but fell short by a ‘neck’ at the wire.

Jockey E.R. Creighton earned his first win at this centre, riding Netto’s Sterling Cruise (Eljohar-Tamure), to a pillar-to-post victory in The Tribute Plate, the concluding race of the day. April Showers moved on to take the second spot towards the closing stages of the race, ahead of Paris Time and Centurion. Anupam Sharma, P.S. Chouhan and G. Sai Vamshi were the professionals to score a brace each.