The Gr 2 President of India Gold Cup, a terms race for four-year-olds and over, was once a prestigious race and was contested by some of the best horses. Over a period of time, the surfeit of terms races for older horses and the fact that very few were left behind to run in these races resulted in the depletion of the quality. The race has since been downgraded from Group I status to Group 2. The kind of response to the race in the last few years makes one wonder whether the club would do well to shift it to winter or drop the race altogether.

There were just three runners in the fray, with Pesi Shroff-trained Theon being a cut above the rest. Pissarro who was rated 24 points behind Theon was the second entry followed by NRI Infinity who was rated at 68. The ratings themselves indicated that the race would be a totally one-sided affair. In keeping with the expectation, Theon won the race, with a start-to-finish mission, in the hands of jockey Pradeep Chouhan. Pissarro was second more than nine lengths adrift while NRI Infinity was another distance behind the runner-up. Such races surely are not good advertisements for the sport.

Barring one race, the other five races that were gone through were all one-sided affairs. There was a stiff battle for supremacy in the 1800 metres Tudor Jet Plate, a race for three-year-olds. Satheesh-trained City Cruise who led from the start was challenged by favourite Hero of the East all the way in the stretch. A relentless ride by jockey Nakhat Singh with the free use of the whip enabled City Cruise to stave off the challenge of favourite Hero of the East who fell short by a ``head``. Akshay Kumar rode the runner-up. Carnival Lady was third more than four lengths adrift.

Hilton Sequeira-trained Dream Station who had failed to break the maidens` ranks in 19 attempts was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Medak Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45 as the four-year-old appeared to have shown a lot of progress in the workouts. Dream Station duly obliged, coming from way behind and finding the spaces in the final furlong to win in the hands of jockey Akshay Kumar. Cash Register was second ahead of OK boss.

Vittal Deshmukh-trained Amalfitana continued to disappoint as she went down tamely to the well-backed Queen Blossom in the 1800 metres Rock of Gibraltar Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Jockey Pradeep Chouhan took Amalfitana on a start-to-finish mission and held the lead deep into the final furlong. Queen Blossom which was in the rear group, steadily bridged the lead and managed to overhaul the front-runner easily in the final furlong to eventually win by a margin of four lengths to provide the second win of the day for Akshay Kumar. Amalfitana was a tame second ahead of Call of the Blue.

The well-backed Stag`s Leap was guided for an easy win by jockey Suraj Narredu in the 1200 metres Telangana And Andhra Sub-Area Trophy, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Suraj had Stag`s Leap chased Divine Connection into the straight before getting aggressive. Stag`s Leap responded well to the urgings and had the race sewn up a long way from home. Fatuma ran on late to finish second ahead of Carlisle.

Mir Faiyaz Ali Khan trained Dyanoosh who had finished a noteworthy second last time out with a late dash made amends in the 1200 metres Red Surprise Plate, a race for maiden three-year-olds. Dyanoosh made rapid progress from the rear group to take charge by the final furlong to beat the challenge of front-running Yaletown with a measure of comfort to provide Akshay Kumar with his third win for the day. Once I Come was third.