Neil Darashah trained Royal Sceptre who is being prepared to have a tilt in the Derby, had a lead up race over an identical distance of 2400 metres in the Raja Bahadur Venkatram Reddy Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 66 to 90, the feature event of the day and had no problem in staying ahead with a start to finish effort at Malakpet on Monday. Royal Sceptre beat the challenge of Western Wind with a measure of comfort.

Royal Sceptre was the firm favourite to win as the Bangalore challenger had run against good company at his home centre and though he did not have a comparable number of wins that his challengers had on the local circuit, the visiting horses are always considered having better quality, racing against opponents of higher cruising speed. Jockey Zervan one thought had gone too fast in front as Royal Sceptre was inclined to bolt but the progeny of Ace settled midway through the race which enabled the jockey to manoeuvre the race thereafter by controlling the pace as well as giving a chance to give the breather to the favourite. Though Royal Sceptre did not break free in the straight, he had enough cushion to finish comfortably ahead of Western Wind. Valerian Steel was third ahead of Tiger gave a chase to the front-runner and expended his energy before the race came on the boil.

Jockey Beuzelin Louis fell foul with the authorities when they stood him down for four race days for incompetent riding on favourite Limousine in the 1200 metres Roman Beauty Plate (Div II), a race for maiden three-year-olds. Beuzelin is easily the best rider at Hyderabad, accumulating a bagful of wins but the Stewards felt that they found his ride on favourite Limousine suspect and the suspension perhaps was a euphemism for a much harsher belief. After being slightly sluggish at the start, Limousine could not have done any better than finish second because the jockey did not seem to be lacking in his efforts. If his ride on Limousine is to be used as a benchmark to judge the jockeys riding on the local circuit, then each day, half a dozen jockeys would be cooling their heels. Top Starchy who had the benefit of a race run, led from the start and comfortably held off Limousine who finished on strongly, indicating that after this run, she would be hard to beat next time out. The good news though for the promoters of new stallion Western Aristocrat is that his progeny is proving to be more than handy and producing precocious horses. Satyanarayana trained Lucky Nicky who already had four runs to her credit, brought off a big priced win as she led all the way and found no one good enough to catch up with her in the upper division of the race. News O’ Star held off Exclusive Symbol to get the runner-up berth.

Laxman Singh trained Mirfield justified the favouritism in the 1400 metres Sardar Mohan Singh Bagga Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 46 t0 to 70. After racing in a handy position into the straight, Mirfield quickly established a useful lead and was in no danger of being caught up with by George Cross who put up a determined resistance. Magna Carta was third ahead of Batur.

Donald Netto trained Preciosa was sharp from the gates and tracked Paprika into the straight before being driven out to measure the front runner in the final furlong to land the spoils in the 1200 metres Might Is Right Plate, a race for horses rated 46 to 70. Paprika put up a speedy effort in front and did not surrender meekly. Preciosa had to be goaded strongly to get the desired response. With the front-runner slackening in the final 100 metres, Preciosa gathered steam to get ahead in the shadow of the post. Seven Colours saved place money by keeping Scooby Dooby Do at bay.

Satyanarayana trained Ragas Ajalias brought off her third straight win by easily accounting for the opposition in the 1100 metres Banarsilal Gupta Memorial Cup (Div I), a race for horses rated 26 to 50. Ragas Ajalias led from the start and was travelling so well that the others could only hope to chase her shadow. Ikigai ran on from behind to grab the second spot ahead of Born To Do It. Faisal Hasan trained Platinum seized control of the lower division of the race with a start to finish mission. The race ceased to be a contest well before the final furlong. King David was second ahead of Matica while favourite Mandy was not sighted.

Donald Netto trained Sweet March recorded an encore with a measure of comfort in the 1400 metres Starsky Plate, a race for horses rated 26 to 50. Beuzelin had Sweet March leading from the start and the progeny of Gaswar was comfortably ahead of late rallying Negress Pearl and the won the race in emphatic fashion. Favourite Euro Zone just managed to stave off Palisades Park to save place money.

It was difficult to pick a winner in the 1400 metres Dark Angel Plate, a race for horses rated up to 30 as none had any good recent form to go by. In the end, the race was won by favourite Pretty Star who managed to get the better of long shot Dorian in the final moments of the race. Dorian appeared to have a stolen march when she had a useful lead going into the final furlong. However, the five-year-old mare tired out in the end, allowing the favourite to save the day for her backers.