It was almost a year ago, that the well-bred daughter of Steinbeck, Above The Line, had seen the winning post. After winning a race last winter, she had not won any race in the subsequent Monsoon season but had finished an eye-catching second to Chestnut Charmer at the fag end of the season. With the advantage of a lung-opener this winter, Above The Line fought on bravely to take The Speaker’s Cup, a race for horses in category I, the main event of Sunday’s races at Hyderabad. Chestnut Charmer was in front on entering the straight and jockey S. John brought Above The Line with a strong challenge to pass the leader. With about 50 metres to the finish, Vendetta unleashed a late burst, but Above The Line galloped on gamely to hold on by a ‘head’.

Chestnut Charmer took the third spot ahead of Dancing Touch. Jockey P.S. Chouhan finished the day with a fine figure of four wins, in a card of nine races and missing the fifth in a photo-finish. With these four wins, P.S. has already taken his total tally to 20, with barely nine days of the season having gone through. Queen’s Craft, Flash of Emerald, Dance Baby Dance and Sugar Gold emerged victorious in Chouhan’s hands while Mystical Knight was the one who failed narrowly. Flash of Emerald and Dance Baby Dance were back-to-back races for the home stable of L.V.R. Deshmukh. Flash of Emerald (Emerald Cat – Right Flash) was quick to hit the front at the start and made every post a winning one in the lower division of The Onnu Onnu Onnu Plate.

Yakshagana followed the winner throughout the race to finish second while India Gate and Fine Racer went past the line in a close finish to fill the frame. The top-weighted Dance Baby Dance (Inner City – Café Dancer) got into a prominent position behind Retaliate within the first furlong of the mile trip, took charge at 600 metres from home and kicked on in the final stages to thwart the attempts of Fearless Mission. Narayan Rao’s Sugar Gold (Fact Finder – Eminency) was hard ridden by Chouhan to lift the higher division of The Hi-Tech Plate. Over Taker made a late bid and finished second. Cool Spice and Classic Dancer filled the frame.

The two-year-old, Queen’s Craft (Ikhtiyar – Eka), who had failed narrowly to Golden Rule on debut, made amends to win the lower division of The Corden Rouge Plate. Setting out in front from the start, Queen’s Craft got stronger towards the closing stages and won the race by a clear three-length margin over Star Value. With this win, trainer Zoheb Shaikh opened his account for the season. The higher division was bagged by L. D’Silva’s juvenile, Garcia Marquez (Quest Star – Friendly Type), who beat Toli Toli Toli and later survived an objection that was raised by the rider of the second placed Toli Toli Toli. Yours Truly led till the distance marker and started to drop back.

Ponte Verdi, who went ahead, began to veer out while Garcia Marquez, who was making his move on the far side, shifted in under pressure. Toli Toli Toli was looking to move in-between the two and was hampered for a clear run. Garcia Marquez went ahead and won the race by a length. The stewards found the objection not a case for reversal of the order and stuck to the original placing. Trainer M. Satyanarayana’s Original Gladiator (Royal Gladiator – Original) received big support in the betting and went into the race as an ‘on-money’ favourite, in The Osman Sagar Cup. Although Original Gladiator was not found with the front bunch early in the race, he started to make a move, turning for home and travelling all over the track, stormed home in taking style and was eased up towards the closing stages.

Intrepid Warrior moved to take the second spot, ahead of Indradhanush. Leo’s Rio Grande (Ontario – Sexy Gal) surprised everyone in the higher division of The Onnu Onnu Onnu Plate, the last race of the afternoon, in a keenly fought out race with Mystical Knight. The favourite Star Prospect was never in the hunt after being interfered at the start by Mystical Knight. Ananth Vatsalya’s Kohinoor Magic (Balla Jidaal – Peron) upset the chances of Sparkling Sapphire and Sprint Champ in the opener, the lower division of The Hi-Tech Plate. TURF NEWS: Mr. P.S. Reddy was elected as the President of the A.P. Race Horse Owner’s Association, in the elections held on Sunday evening. The other office bearers who were elected are as follows.

Vice-Presidents: Mr. K.S.N. Murthy and Mr. Prem Singh Rathore Secretary: Mr. T. Rakesh Reddy Joint Secretary: Mr. G. Uma Maheshwar Rao Treasurer: Mr. R. Vijay Kumar Rao Committee Members: Mr. K. Ramakrishna Mr. M. Madhukar Mr. Srinivas Pangam Mr. Mukesh Gupta Mr. Kudithi Mahender Reddy Mr. K.T. Raidu