Hilton Sequeira trained Watch My Stride prevailed in a close finish in the 1100 metres Telangana And Andhra Sub Area p, a race for horses rated 40 to 65, the feature event of Sunday`s races held at Malakpet. The favourite who had a comfortable cushion going into the final furlong was later on hard-pressed to keep the lead and win from a fast-finishing Kingston.
City of Bliss led the field well into the final furlong before being displaced from that position by the eventual winner. Watch My Stride then stormed ahead and the only danger to his supremacy was Kingston who was full of running at the finish. Kingston fell short by a head. Menilly who had her share of supporters continued to disappoint, rallying late but saved place money.

The heavily supported NRI Sun was rather unlucky to lose the Tribute Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Backed to the exclusion of the rest, NRI Sun was sluggish at the start, tailed the field and took a long while to get into his rhythm. The race was won by long shot Garnet who raced up with the field, scooted to the lead in the final furlong with only Princeton in proximity and then held off the late rally of NRI Sun who covered acres of grounds in the stretch but ran out of ground in the end. Princeton was a close third. Garnet thus broke the maidens rank in her sixth attempt.

Flaming Flame who hadn`t won for 765 days was confidently backed to win the Zoom Zoom Plate, a race for horses in the lower category. Apprentice jockey Santosh Raj was alert to the task as he got the favourite to race in about the third position with Elmira enjoying an uncontested lead. Elmira had a good cushion going into the final furlong but it was clear that she was running out of fuel. Flamingo Flame gathered steam and successfully overhauled the front-runner and won with a measure of comfort in the end. Battle Ready was third.

Sreekant trained Star Racer brought off an upset win in the 1200 metres Megatop Plate (Div I), a race for horses rated 20 to 45. Star Racer hit the front after the field traveled the first furlong and never looked back. Star Racer went to the final furlong with a big cushion and this was good enough for the five-year-old to hit the winning post first. Sun Dancer finished with a rush to come within striking reach of overhauling the front-runner Curcumin was third. Mukesh Kumar drove out N R I Vision to an easy win in the lower division of the race. The consistent NRI Vision who was running in the lower category shaped like a winner well before the final furlong. NRI Vision had enough cushion when last start winner Hashtag came up with a powerful run rather late in the day. Sputnic and Gusty Note also finished behind the runner-up in close order.

Jockey Imran Khan drove out Red Snapper to victory in the 1400 metres Ardent Knight Plate, a race for horses rated 40 to 65. Balius showed enough resolution to lead the field well into the final furlong but could not sustain the foray in front when Red Snapper came up with a strong effort. Red Snapper then had to contend with Four One Four who could have pulled it off had she not gone wide under pressure. The pace-setter Balius stayed on to take the third position.

The well-bred Salisbury from the stables of trainer Leo D`Silva finally came out of the maidens ranks in his 10th effort winning the 1400 metres Nirmal Plate (Div I), a race for horses in the lowest category against the run of expectations. Quoted at long odds, Salisbury had the race sewn up a long way from home. Wot`s Up Jay ran on to take the second slot ahead of Challenger. tch.htm