Waseem Ahmed trained Honest Hunter fought off a resolute battle and held off the threat of favourite Star Envoy to land the spoils in the 1100 metres Soviet Star Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65, the feature event of Monday`s Hyderabad races. Jockey B R Kumar gave an aggressive ride on the winner which also reportedly came back lame.

Yours Forever who was also well backed was withdrawn at the gates as he played up at the gates and refused to be stalled. Star Envoy and Rahil raced ahead even as Star Envoy was caught wide. Rahil had the lead going into the final and held on grimly, but Honest Hunter managed to gain ascendancy close home. Star Envoy`s finishing burst could fetch him only the runner-up berth ahead of Rahil. Pentagon too finished on well to be a close fourth.

Srinivas Reddy trained Ashwa Virat who had gone down narrowly in his debut run made amends easily claiming the 1200 metres Democracy Plate, a race for maiden two-year-olds. Ashwa Virat squeezed his way through a narrow opening on the outside of Melting Ice inside the final furlong and shot ahead. Ashwa Virat then stormed clear to win by a widening margin of three lengths. Horus was second while Advance Guard was third. Melting Ice who was struck along the rails, weakened to become fourth.

The 1400 metres Kinnerasani Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65 threw a confusing scenario with none of the runners looking outstanding to merit serious betting. The betting trend also indicated with all the horses available at lucrative odds with One One One enjoying favouritism. After Siyabonga led deep into the straight and weakened, there was a charge of several horses to grab the lead. Nayadeep moved up with raking strides in the hands of jockey Irvan Singh on the wide outside to surged ahead while Dandy Man made rapid progress along the rails but once again had to be satisfied with the runner-up berth. The Sreekant trainee was available at big odds. Once More ran on late to take the third position while One One One disappeared after being in contention till the final furlong.

Leo D`Silva trained Miss Marvellous who was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1600 metres Srinivas Sadagopa Sharma Memorial Cup (Div I), a race for horses rated 40 to 65, swamped the opposition by a widening margin of seven lengths. After Ashwa Arjun led the field and weakened, Miss Marvellous took charge inside the final two furlongs and sped clear to win as she pleased. Yogastha was second ahead of Royal Style. Laxman Singh trained Best In Show showed improvement over her winning form by getting the better of long-time leader Red river close home to land the spoils in the lower division of the race. Fancied Ice Warrior was withdrawn at the gates on veterinary grounds and this resulted in Nova Scotia going to the post at a cramped price. Red River led from the start with Best In Show in about the third position while Nova Scotia raced in the rear group. While Nova Scotia struggled to make headway in the straight, Best In Show engaged Red River in the battle for supremacy and managed to get the nod in the final strides of the race. Nova Scotia warmed up too late for comfort and had to settle for the third slot.

Akshay Kumar`s power packed riding enabled fancied Diesis Dream to stave off a strong challenge of long shot Halo`s Princess by a whisker in the 1400 metres J S Dhariwal Memorial Plate, a race for horses rated up to 25. Diesis Dream led from the start and closer home Halo`s Princess finished with a rush only to find the front-runner reach the safety of the winning post. Hurricane was third while favourite London Bridge performed poorly.

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Ashwa Virrat ( Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Democracy Plate

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Honest Hunter (B R Kumar up) winner of the Soviet Star Plate

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Best In Show (Robbie Downey up) winner of the Srinivasa Sadagopa Sharma Memorial Cup (Div-II)

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Nayadeep (Irvan Singh up) winner of the Kinnerasani Plate

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Miss Marvellous (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Srinivasa Sadagopa Sharma Memorial Cup (Div-I)

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Diesis Dream (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the J S Dhariwal Memorial Plate

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