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Anant Vatsalya trained Amorous White who has shown amazing consistency by winning most of the races that he has run in asserted his superiority yet again in the 1200 metres R Raghupathi Reddy Memorial Cup, a race for horses rated 74 and above, the feature event of Sunday’s races held at Malakpet. The progeny of Stern Opinion led aggressively in front and had enough legs to go past the post ahead of King of Pop and the rest.
Amorous White has been a model of consistency and has always figured on board even on occasions he has been beaten when going over the seven-furlong trip which is not his forte. He has been a gutsy and game performer and trainer Vatsalya deserves to be complimented for producing his ward in top condition for all his outings by having a well thought out campaign plan for his ward. Amorous White’s next target could be the Kakatiya Cup which is generally treated as a qualifying race to get the nominations for the Sprinters Cup.
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Jockey Akshay Kumar took Amorous White to the front as is his wont and the game galloper enjoyed his front-running role by having a healthy lead and having enough cushion when the others came charging home. King of Pop was the nearest challenger, but he had a daunting task of getting the better of the front-runner who always fights more if there is a challenge. King of Pop had to settle for the second spot. There was a cluster finish behind. Favourite Ambitious Approach though in touch with the front-runners, failed to quicken when the race came to the boil and looked beaten long way from home. There was a cavalry charge at the finish with Ambitious Approach saving the third place by a whisker over Chase Your Dreams and fast finishing Ashwa Raftar who literally came from the back of the field with an eye-catching effort. Ashwa Raftar should be a force to reckon with over a more suitable trip of seven furlongs.
Trainer Vittal Deshmukh hasn’t been enjoying a good season and this is reflected in the performance of his horses who are failing to maintain their form and faring poorly against the run of expectations. Highly Acclaimed who had recorded an impressive win last time out, was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1100 metres Sardar Mohan Singh Bagga Memorial Cup (Div II), a race for horses rated 42 to 62. But Highly Acclaimed did not live up to his name and finished a tame fourth. Satyanarayana trained Starlight who had been running consistent races, produced a winning gallop in the final furlong to get past Southern Promise to land the spoils at big odds. Vancouver edged out Highly Acclaimed to get the third position. The upper division of the race was won by the largest priced runner from trainer Prasad Raju namely Dream Girl. The long shot hit the front and had no problem in staying put to win the race from late-finishing Ans Ans Ans who nosed out Royal Dynamite to get the third place. The fancied duo of Newport and Takisha ran below par indicating the fact that these trainers are struggling hard to get their wards to run to their potential in each of their runs.
Sequeira trained Reunion towered over the opposition in the 1400 metres Malvado Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 26 to 46. The short-priced favourite came home with a powerful run with a furlong left in the race and cruised away for an easy win over Jumeirah Express who veered out under pressure but still was good enough to keep the runner-up berth. Aerofoil who led from the start, stayed on to finish third more than seven lengths adrift of the runner-up while Raja Hindustani ran well below expectations. Lesser fancied Lady Admiral from the yard of trainer K V Srinivas came home with a big effort to get past the long-time leader Silver Dollar and had no problem in skipping clear for a comfortable win. Dean’s Gal ran on to take the second position ahead of Silver and Island Queen. Favourite Turf Legend lost all his chances with a lethargic start from the gates and he never recovered from the poor beginning.
Apprentice jockey Bopanna showed lot more aggression than before when he drove out Dear Friend powerfully to get the better of long time front-runner and stablemate Moon Walker to win the 1100 metres Flirting Vision Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 26 to 46. Moon Walker who shaped to record an easy win completely faltered in the final moments of the race and even lost the runner-up berth to fast-rallying Ashwini. Akshay Kumar guided the well backed Sir Legend to victory in the lower division of the race. Sir Legend who travelled a handy second into the straight, soon took command of the race and had a useful cushion which held the fancied runner in good stead when Romantic Fire and Time To Climb came charging home. Sir Legend had enough cushion to pull through.
Zoheb Shaikh trained Princess brought off an upset win in the 1600 metres Gangotri Plate, a race for horses rated up to 30. The race looked like a minefield and it proved so when Princess puled it off at the expense of Brioni and Kohinoor Legend. Fancied Cannon Grey had all the chances but failed to produce that bit extra while the other fancied runner Handsome Boy did not have the speed to get a clear run in the straight and finished down the field.
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Reunion (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Malvado Plate (Div-I)
Dear Friend (C P Bopanna up) winner of the Flirting Vision Plate (Div-I)
Lady Admiral (G Naresh up) winner of the Malvado Plate (Div-II)
Starlight (G Naresh up) winner of the Sardar Mohan Singh Bagga Memorial Cup (Div-II)
Sir Legend (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Flirting Vision Plate (Div-II)
Dream Girl (N Rawal up) winner of the Sardar Mohan Singh Bagga Memorial Cup (Div-I)
Amorous White (Akshay Kuma up) winner of the R.Raghupathi Reddy Memorial Cup
Princess (Kuldeep Singh up) winner of the Gangotri Plate
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