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Trainer Satyanarayana`s hat-trick which saw him win the last three races of the day including the day`s feature, the 1400 metres Ghulam Ahmed Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 74 and above, was the highlight of Sunday`s races held at Hyderabad. The one-eyed Starlight who was loitering in the rear till entering the stretch, came home with a such a big effort that the four-year-old breezed past the front-runners with such aggression that he was hailed a winner long way from home. The last three races of the day belonged to Satyanarayana`s wards.
The feature event had an open look about it as the form did not give any clue as many runners had as good a chance as any to win it. Amazing Response was the designated favourite. Mr Baahubali in his customary fashion set a fast pace with Dream Girl, Leading Legend and Amazing Response in handy striking positions while Magical Skill and Starlight belonged to the ones in the rear. Rounding the final turn, Leading Legend sprinted ahead and opened a good lead. The complexion of the race changed once Starlight showed up on the wide outside and he produced such a scintillating burst of speed that in a matter of fractions, he had drawn clear to win the race in emphatic fashion. Leading Legend held the second position with the late-rallying Magical Skill getting the third position. Favourite Amazing Response was not seen at the busy end.
Vittal Deshmukh whose stable appears to have bounced back to winning ways had another profitable day. The trained saddled the winners of both the divisions of 1600 metres Cordon Rouge Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 26 to 46. Hope Is Eternal who hadn`t won for 441 days, managed to pull it off from City of Sails and late-finishing Royal Hero. Jockey Kuldeep Singh brought Hope Is Eternal to swiftly improve position along the rails and then angled out the four-year-old filly in the final furlong to essay a strong challenge of City of Sails. The favourite managed to edge past the front-runner in the shadow of the post. Royal Hero produced a late burst of speed to be an impressive third. The lower division of the race also went the way of Vittal Deshmukh whose Et Voici also won after a lapse of four months. Ridden by promising apprentice Afroz Khan, Et Voici chased Limousine deep into the straight before storming ahead for a comprehensive win. Lancashire ran on to finish third.
Prasad Raju trained Staridar was widely expected to win the 1600 metres Artillery Cup, a race for horses rated 42 to 62 and the favourite did not disappoint though he had a survive the scare of a late thrust by That`s My Magic whose challenge failed to fructify narrowly. Hailstorm who was expected to be a force to reckon with surprisingly was off colour and was never in the hunt. Staridar held fort but came close to being toppled by That`s My Magic who found the winning post come frustratingly early. Solar Heights held off Golden Fortune to save place money.
Anant Vatsalya trained Just Like That won the 1400 metres Rainbows For Life Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated up to 30 as a long shot. Just Like That very nearly botched it up by going wide but jockey Saikumar managed to father the horse and drove it out to get the better of Dance All Night who had the edge as he kept a straight course. Yogastha was third. Trainer Satyanarayana who narrowly missed out on Dance All Night, however, lead in the winners of the other two divisions of the race. Crimson Fire swamped the opposition in Division II of the race. Crimson Fire took command from the start and skipped away from the rest in the stretch to record a comfortable win over Top Sprint and Southern Meteor. Favourite Vallee Ikon graced the wrong end of the field and was never in contention much to the disappoint of his supporters who had expected him to perform an encore. City of Akira, also trained by Satyanarayana, had run dismally in her last effort in monsoon but was backed with conviction to win the Division III of the race. Handsome Duo was also in serious betting. Silver Dollar and Handsome Duo were engaged in the battle for supremacy and the former shook off his rival in the final 100 metres. At this point, City of Akira was some lengths adrift of Silver Dollar. City of Akira finished powerfully to nail the front-runner in the closing moments of the race to record an easier win than the verdict suggested.
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Just Like That (P Sai Kumar up) winner of the RAINBOWS FOR LIFE PLATE (DIV-I)
Hope Is Eternal (Kuldeep Singh up) winner of the CORDEN ROUGE PLATE (DIV-I)
Et Voici (Afroz Khan up) winner of the CORDEN ROUGE PLATE (DIV-II)
Staridar (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the ARTILLERY CUP
Crimson Fire (Kuldeep Singh up) winner of the RAINBOWS FOR LIFE PLATE (DIV-II)
Starlight (G Naresh up) winner of the GHULAM AHMED MEMORAIL CUP
City Of Akira (G Naresh up) winner of the RAINBOWS FOR LIFE PLATE (DIV-III)
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