Vittal Deshmukh trained Kolors pulled it by a neck in an absorbing finish involving four runners and won the 1400 metres Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 86 and above, the feature event of Sunday`s Hyderabad races. The Healer who had remained unbeaten in the last three starts, perhaps found the extra furlong his undoing while going down in a thriller.

The Healer enjoyed more support in the betting ring based on his amazing consistency of wins. The only doubt anybody nursed was the fact that all the wins of The Healer had come over shorter sprint. Aventus set a fast pace followed by Kolors, Vijay Viraaj, Carlton, The Healer, Happy Guy and Woman O War. Inside the final furlong, there was a cluster of horses in contention with Kolors enjoying a wafer-thin advantage. Closer home, it was difficult to predict who the winner could be as four horses were in the fray, with The Healer too producing a strong effort. Vijay Viraaj briefly led in the closing moments of the races before Kolors snatched back the lead just in time to land the spoils by a neck in the hands of apprentice jockey Rafique. Vijay Viraaj was second ahead of The Healer and a fast finishing Woman O War. A neck and two short heads separated the first four placed horses.

Anant Vatsalya trained Amorous White who had lost by a whisker in his debut run, proved too good or the opposition in the 1100 metres Beginners Plate, a race for two-year-olds. Despite this being a no allowance race, the trainer entrusted the horse to his stable jockey Naresh who took the favourite on a start to finish mission. The progeny of Stern Opinion simply swept the opposition of their feet to win the race pulling up by about seven and half lengths over Sweetie Pie and Reach The Heights.

Prasad Raju`s Ruby`s Gift who had given hopes of a possible win during the monsoon but failed to justify the expectations perhaps appreciated the change of track as he galloped resolutely in the final furlong to get the measure of front-running Seven Colours in the final stages of the race to win as a well-backed runner in the 1200 metres Adolfito Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 26 to 50. Vijay`s Empress ran on to finish third. Apprentice jockey B R Kumar was successful in guiding lesser fancied Green Striker to a narrow win over Olympic Hero in the lower division of the race. Green Strike led into the straight and had a good break over the rest. Dragonstone was ridden hard to catch up but faded out in the final furlong unable to find an extra gear. Olympic Hero warmed up to the task in the final furlong and finished menacingly only to find the front-runner escape to victory as the winning post came a wee bit early. Composure who was in third position without gaining any ground stayed on to take the third position ahead of Dragonstone.

Altruist from the stables of trainer Hilton Sequeira received enthusiastic support in the betting ring to win the1100 metres Own Opinion Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 26 to 50. Symbol of Choice attempted start to finish tactics and had a useful lead going into the final furlong as the favourite had considerable leeway to cover. However, Altruist found his bearings in the final furlong as he produced a scintillating burst of speed to sail past the front-runner in the final moments of the race to win with a measure of comfort. Oathofyourdaughter too ran on well towards the close to edge past Exclusive Beauty to get the third place. Wind Zoom flew in the final 100 metres and easily won the lower division of the race. Symbol of Pride had the first run on her opponents but she was under immense pressure to retain the lead all the way in the final furlong as she was first pressed by Dancing Farha and later by Wind Zoom whose finishing burst simply left the others standing. The Satyanarayana trainee won with a fair margin in the end from Dancing Farha and Symbol of Pride. Staying The Best was in contention and finished a close fourth but unfortunately, he bled through both his nostrils which affected his finishing better.

Leo D`Silva who has been going through a lean patch for too long, had a confidence boosting double through Golden Image and Grand Canyon. General Salute was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the Recommender Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated up to 30. General Salute led the field in earnest and had a useful break at the top of the straight. However, he began to look highly vulnerable when Man Of The Series came up with a strong challenge. Even as the latter was gaining ascendancy, the scene changed dramatically when Golden Image flashed on the scene on the wide outside and got the better of Man Of The Series on the post. General Salute weakened to finish third. Apprentice Gopal Singh kept his cool under pressure and just concentrated on pushing his mount Chester despite New Comer looking strong and managed to win the lower division of the race by a narrow margin. Prep One was third.

Earlier in the day, Leo D`Silva was successful through Grand Canyon who had recorded an upset win in the 1600 metres Bhadrachalam Cup, a race for horses rated 26 to 50. Grand Canyon came into strong contention in the final furlong as he shot ahead along the rails and stretched away for a facile win over Brilliant and Ice Barrier.