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Hilton Sequeira trained Amazing Response justified the strong favouritism with a start to finish dash in the 1200 metres Telangana Cup, a race for horses rated 75 and above, the feature event of the opening day`s races of the Hyderabad Monsoon Season on Thursday. With horses returning to action after a break of five months, the fitness of the horses was difficult to gauge and the problem of punters were compounded by the failure of the horses which looked seemingly infallible on their credentials.
Most of the horses in the fray for the feature event had run their last outing over long trips but among them, Amazing Response had showed his liking for the sprint. Jockey Akshay Kumar had Amazing Response in the lead from the word go and the favourite did not come any under pressure while checking in comfortably ahead of Prospero. Phenomenal Cruise made some rally in the stretch to take the third position while the others in the fray seemed far from ready. Like Wise lost come ground at the start.
The run benefit that the Hyderabad horses had at Bangalore was seen to advantage in the 1200 metres Welcome Plate (Div I), a race for maiden three-year-olds. Ruletheworld, Giethorn and Linewiler had all run on the Bangalore track and as far as racing fitness was concerned all these three horses were better prepared than the other local horses. What was surprising was the disproportionate support attracted by Ruletheworld which went to the post as an on-money favourite. Both Giethorn who had decent runs to his credit on the local track and Linewiler were available at long odds. Jockey Kiran Naidu took Giethorn on a start to finish mission and the front-runner prevailed by a whisker over Linewiler and Ruletheworld who were both driven out to overhaul the front-runner. A short head separated these finishers with Giethorn clinging on the lead ahead of Linewiler and Ruletheworld. The lower division of the race was claimed with a measure of comfort by Yours Forever which was surprisingly assigned to apprentice Surya Prakash when he cannot claim any allowance. Perhaps this ploy ensured a better price for Yours Forever who stormed through the gap along the rails to take control of the race inside the final furlong. Explosive finished with a rush to take the second position ahead of Original Temptress who led till overhauled by the eventual winner.
But that advantage did not work in the 1200 meters S S Cardmaster Memorial Cup (Div II), a race for horses rated 40 to 65 where two horses which summered at Bangalore namely Roll Call was the betting rage ahead of Blazer. The race was won by Laxman Singh trained Platts Tour who had control of the race from the start, skipped clear to win by a comfortable margin. Blazer ran on to finish second ahead of Solar Heights. Roll Call could not be spotted to have any chance, having settled in the rear bunch and making no progress in the stretch. These are the dangers that the punters must face when deciding on their fancies because those who summer at Bangalore have won and lost in equal measure. Odds are often deceptively low on such horses. Platts Tour, of course, had the credentials to win the race the way she did. The upper-division of the race was won by long shot News O Star from the stables of trainer Ravinder Singh who in the hands of Bangalore based jockey Darshan managed to get the better of the fancied Rapid Fire in the closing strides of the race. Hailstorm was third. Favourite Pontius Pilate led into the final furlong but brushed the rails and jockey Trevor Patel eased up the horse and this effectively ensured that the favourite would not even figure on board.
Laxman Singh trained Isabella who had lost by a whisker to Brainstorm during the winter season was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1200 metres Golden Dagger Plate, a race for horses rated 60 to 85. Suraj Narredu had Isabella take a forward position from the outside draw with Classic Remark showing the way. Isabella smoothly cruised into the lead with a furlong left in the race. Exclusivenorthwind cut an erratic course and twice drifted out dangerously with jockey Akshay Kumar unable to handle the wayward horse effectively compounding his problems by right-handed whipping which the horse did not relish and violently ran out each time the whip was used. Exclusivenorthwind nevertheless managed to finish second best ahead of the long-time pace-setter Classic Remark.
Despite being hampered by the riderless Curcumin hampering his progress, Sequeira trained Aon Aon Aon brought off a big upset in the 1100 metres Look of Eagles Plate, a race for horses rated 20 to 45, where overwhelming favourite Vijays Singham flopped miserably after shaping to win in the final furlong. Apprentice jockey Koushik was astride the winner. Celeritas edged out Max to save place money.
Srinivas Reddy trained Smarty who came in for noticeable support close to race time had no problem in winning the 1200 metres Ramappa Plate, a race for horses rated up to 25. Escalating Striker staved off Cowboy`s Delight to gain the runner-up berth.
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Giethorn (Kiran Naidu up) winner of the Welcome Plate (Div-I)
Smarty (Prasad up) winner of the Ramappa Plate
Yours Forever (Surya Prakash up) winner of the Welcome Plate (Div-II)
Platts Tour (A Ashhad Asbar up) winner of the S.S.Cardmaster Memorial Cup (Div-II)
Isabella (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Golden Dagger Plate
Amazing Response (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Telangana Cup
News O` Star (Darshan R N up) winner of the S.S.Cardmaster Memorial Cup (Div-I)
Aon Aon Aon (Koushik up) winner of the Look Of Eagles Plate
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