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Donald Netto trained Versailles who has touched sublime form thwarted the strong challenge of Highly Acclaimed to maintain her unbeaten run in the 14000 metres Zoom Zoom Plate, a race for horses rated 75 and above, the feature event of Sunday’s Hyderabad races. This was the fifth straight win for Versailles who was the Horse of the Season during the Monsoon Season.
Versailles was widely backed to maintain her winning form as the progeny of Green Coast continued to retain her sharpness. Highly Acclaimed went on a start to finish mission and was not inclined to give up easily despite a strong challenge from Versailles who had to be fully stretched by jockey Akshay Kumar to nail the front-runner close home. That’s My Class necked out Prospero to get the third position.
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Jockey Akshay Kumar miscalculated his final assault in the 1800 metres Banarsilal Gupta Cup, a race for horses rated 40 to 65 on favourite No Compromise. Havelock Cruise raced freely in front enjoying a good break over the rest with No Compromise settled in the penultimate position. Even though No Compromise covered a lot of ground in the stretch, his task was a herculean one as Havelock Cruise had established a winning lead by the final furlong and was not showing signs of slowing down. Francis Bacon was a tame third.
Suraj Narredu had an arm-chair ride to victory on favourite Conscious Gift in the 1200 metres Royal Tern Plate, a race for maiden two-year-olds. Conscious Gift chased Kapell Burke well into the straight before storming clear in the final furlong for a facile win by a widening margin of four lengths. Kapell Burke held on to the second position ahead of Lightning Pearl.
Faiyaz Ali Khan trained Digger was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1100 metres Flying Treasure Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45 but had to be ridden out fully to snatch the verdict in the final stride of the race. Lesser fancied Loch Stella had a commanding lead attempting a start to finish mission. Inside the final furlong, Digger had considerable leeway to cover and it looked a difficult task. Under a vigorous riding of Akshay Kumar, Digger responded well and finished with a big effort. Both Loch Stella and Digger went past the post locked together, but the latter had hit the magic eye first.
Vittal Deshmukh trained Miss Lilly was aggressively ridden by apprentice jockey Surya Prakash to get the better of La Mer in the closing strides of the race in the 1400 metres Ming Dynasty Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Though La Mer had the first on her opponents, closer home she had to taste defeat as she slackened in the closing strides of the race. Sublime was a close third in a cluster finish. Laxman Singh trained Siyabonga has always been an enigmatic performer as her career has been marked by some spectacular performances matched by equally mediocre runs. Backed to the exclusion of the rest to win the lower division of the Ming Dynasty Plate, Siyabonga did not look the part and failed to take a striking position and then flopped miserably in the stretch. Classy Guy showed speed to lead the field into the straight before lesser fancied King Maker shot ahead and stretched away to win from Max who overcame a lethargic start and finished second. Lightning Fin occupied the third position while Siyabonga finished dismally.
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Conscious Gift (Suraj Narredu up) winner of the Royal Tern Plate
King Maker (Surya Prakash up) winner of the Ming Dynasty Plate (Div-II)
Digger (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Flying Treasure Plate (Div-I)
Versallies (Akshay Kumar up) winner of the Zoom Zoom Plate
Havelock Cruise (A Imran Khan up) winner of the Banarsilal Gupta Memorial Cup
Miss Lily (Surya Prakash up) winner of the Ming Dynasty Plate (Div-I)
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