Scubarioo, from L. D’Silva’s yard, lifted the P. Veereshwar Rao Memorial Cup, the main event of Monday’s races at Hyderabad. Scubarioo (Ontario – Speedwell) had been knocking at the door, having placed in all his starts in winter and getting a lung opener this season, finishing fourth to Vijay Monarch with a late rally. Going into the race, Scubarioo was racing in the second last position, rounding the final bend. Young Soldier and Commanding Heights were fighting for supremacy in front and just when it looked like the latter would have his way, jockey John on Scubarioo weaved his way through the field and shot like an arrow between the two to win the race.

Commanding Heights finished second while Metaforce beat Young Soldier for the third place. Trainer J. Silvester opened his account with a lucrative double, romping home in both the divisions of The Race Club Cup. A Fire Work (Case Law – Divine Honey) pulled off an upset win in the lower division. After positioning himself prominently in third till the final bend, A Fire Work moved swiftly to take charge and win comfortably. The favourite Crown Castle fell back on the straight and turned up with a late dash to finish second. Aspiring Star and Sparkling Sapphire filled the frame. As the runners walked into the paddock for the customary parade, the word started circulating that Silvester was on a double.

His filly, Invincible Genes (Case Law – Summer Wind) received most support in the betting to wind up as an 11 to 10 favourite with the price on Flashy Conquest easing out. Setting out in front from the start, Invincible Genes shrugged off Flashy Conquest on the straight and stretched clear. Carson Troy rallied late to deny the runner-up berth to Flashy Conquest while Paris Time sneaked along the rails to take the fourth spot. Faisal Hassan pulled off a gamble on Anguna (Pennine Ridge – Essmeralda Sarnia) in the lower division of The Srisailam Plate. The in-form jockey, P.S. Chouhan had taken a useful lead on the public choice Amontillado on the straight but he was soon overpowered by Anguna, who sped past in one fast pace to win.

Chouhan had earlier scraped through, on the top-weighted Golden Flame (Reach The Gold – Salamanca), in the higher division. With a good leeway, midway up the straight, a comfortable win for Golden Flame looked to be the final outcome but Nandanvanaa covered ‘miles’ from the rear to fall short by a whisker.

Best Pal (Best Of The Bests – Ultimate Truffle), sporting the colours of Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy, crafted an impressive debut victory in The Hidden Bloom Plate. As the field travelled past the 600 metres, Nasheeta was along the rails with Best Pal in the centre and Cherry Hill on the outside. Entering the straight, Best Pal shot ahead to score an impressive win. Cherry Hill held on to the second spot ahead of Agastaya.

English Jockey P.A. Culhane opened his account with Arya Veer (Placerville – Imperial Satsuma) in The Golconda Plate, the opening race of the day. Jabel Queen finished on to take the second spot ahead of Vijay Trishul. Prasad Raju’s Greet Well (Ontario – Visible Gold) unleashed a terrific run, coming from way off the pace, to upset Lord Nelson’s calculations in the lower division of The Elusive Hero Plate. Narwhal was withdrawn before the race. The higher division turned out to be a fight between stablemates Golden Estelita (Inner City – Peace Keeper) and Sir Almas with the former necking out the latter.