Jockey Akshay Kumar drove out Magan Singh Parmar trained Hugh Capet to an impressive win in the 1600 metres Shravan Kumar Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 65, the feature event of races held on Monday at Malakpet. Jockey Akshay Kumar was back to his winning ways, booting home four winners.

The feature event looked competitive as many of the contestants were bidding for a repeat win. The betting ring favoured Barbet to record an encore as the filly was backed down to strong favouritism ahead of last-start winner Hugh Capet. Midway through the race, Winning Streak shot forward and led by several lengths over Ambitious Star and Barbet. Akshay Kumar preferred to stay behind Hugh Capet, trusting the eventual speed of the fancied runner to cover the leeway. Down the final furlong, Barbet shot ahead but she could not keep the lead for long as Hugh Capet came home with a big burst of speed. Hugh Capet bounced clear in the closing stages of the race and won with a measure of comfort. Barbet just about held on to the second position by a nose ahead of Fly Me To The Star who rallied late after a lethargic beginning. Winning Streak, bidding for a hat-trick, packed up in the straight and finished poorly.

The day`s opener went the way of a very short-priced favourite High Command from the stables of trainer Vittal Deshmukh. Quoted at unbackable odds, the two-year-old High Command won the lower division of the Storm Trooper Plate by a widening margin of six lengths. Chasing Warwick well into the straight, the progeny of Leitir Mor, High Command was alerted by jockey Akshay Kumar to quicken early in the stretch. The favourite quickly measured the front-runner and sped clear in the final furlong for an easy win. Warwick held the second position while Ashwa Gajaraj was hard-pressed to claim the third position which he did so at the expense of Toffee by a whisker.

Despite being taken out in the straight by the front-running favourite High Reward, Akshay Kumar managed to ride out Bangor On Dee to eke out a narrow win in the 1200 metres Storm Trooper Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. At the jump itself, High Reward took the horses out but later was steadied to lead till the closing stages of the race. Under pressure, High Reward drifted out and apprentice jockey R S Jodha was not able to keep his horse on an even keel. The experienced Akshay Kumar handled the situation well and drove out Bangor On Dee to prevail by half a length. Protocol was faraway third. Donald Netto trained Picture Me was a short-priced favourite to do an encore in the lower division of the Storm Trooper Plate. Jockey Vikrant did not hesitate to take the favourite to the front from the start. Picture Me built up a winning lead by the final furlong and held the lead easily to win the race from Doe A Deer who rallied late to finish second. Deccan Ranger pinched third place from Sporting Smile.

The infusion of new apprentices has literally made a big difference in the outcome of races. Md Ekram Alam was the third newly apprenticed jockey to win a race on Satheesh-trained Ice Berry in the 1400 metres Delage Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45. The five kg allowance is making a big difference to the chances of the horses which also have come down in scales. Ice Berry was well-backed even as the odds on the favourite Angel Tesoro went up and down. Ekram Alam took Ice Berry to the front from the word `go` and the fancied runner enjoyed an uncontested lead, did not come under pressure at any stage of the race and went on to win the race by a margin of over two lengths. Star Babe was the only one in proximity, giving a futile chase. Sucker Punch failed to pick up steam and ran on to finish third necking out late finishing stablemate Explosive.

A good touch was landed on Reza Shahzad trained Arba Wahed Arba in the 1400 metres Gangotri Plate, a race for horses in the lowest category. Royal Pal was the favourite but it was clear that the horse would not be an easy ride for raw apprentice Ekram Alam as the horse is not a free runner and requires strong riding. Close to race time, the odds on Arba Wahed Arba crashed indicating the confidence of the backers in what appeared a tricky race. After Jack Daniel ran freely in front and held the lead into the final furlong, Arba Wahed Arba who was in the penultimate position, moved with raking strides and responded to the urgings of jockey Afroz Khan to storm past the front-runners and won with the first race of her career in her 11th outing by a margin of four lengths. Jack Daniel held off the late rally of Ar Superior by a nose to retain the runner-up berth. The favourite Royal Pal was never in the hunt.