Vittal Deshmukh realised his long-time ambition of winning a Derby that had eluded him several times as Tintinnabulation capped a great year for the champion trainer of Hyderabad by running away with the Gr 1 Deccan Bookmakers Golconda Derby, the star event of the season, in front of a capacity crowd at Malakpet on Sunday.

Unlike on the previous occasions when Vittal’s horses had come frustratingly close to winning the Derby, this time around, he had no anxious moments when the field took the final turn as the only other horse which looked capable of winning was stablemate Vijays Champ who finished second to provide a 1-2 for the trainer and the owners in this mega event of the local season.

Tintinnabulation is owned by M/S. Vijay Racing, Farms Private Limited represented by Mr. Vijay Kumar Gupta, Mr. Susheel Kumar Gupta and M/Pratap Racecitement Private Limited represented by The Estate Of late M. Dodla Pratap Chander Reddy and Mr. Ashish Bajaj.

In what has been a dream year for the Hazara Stud Farm which is making giant strides on the Indian racing scene, the success of Tintinnabulation provided a back to back Derbys for the horses bred at the stud farm located in Haryana. Only on Saturday, Red Baron had won the Bangalore Derby. The Hazara Stud Farm also had the rare distinction of having bred the first four runners in the Indian 2000 Guineas. The success achieved by the resident stallion Rebuttal and the performance of the produce through pregnant mares bought abroad has been mindboggling indeed. Nirmal Singh, the promoter of the stud farm, could not have hoped for better results.

For some strange reasons, Manyatta began as the favourite but soon lot of money came pouring on Tintinnabulation who ended up as the favourite. Shivalik Star found himself in front as the field set out for the mile and half trip with Vijays Champ and Storm Tracker in close attendance while Tintinnabulation who took a sedate start was settled in about the sixth or seventh position along the rails. Angel Crown raced in mid group while Manyatta preferred to keep company with the favourite. Passing the mile marker, Sandesh pushed Vijays Champ to take over the running and at one point of time, he and Shivalik Star were a distance ahead of the rest.

Shivalik Star ran out of reserves at the top of the straight and weakened to fall back to finish last. Vijays Champ held forte till the final furlong but it was clear even at the top of the straight that Pradeep Chouhan was just letting the stablemate lead on sufferance. Once the jockey set alight Tintinnabulation, the progeny of Intikhab devoured ground and had the race sewn up long way from home. He checked in by a widening margin of five lengths over Vijays Champ while Angel Crown finished third. Manyatta was fourth while Storm Tracker found himself out of depth.
The late Dodla Pratap Reddy was a passionate buyer of horses. He bought horses with an eye on the pedigree that caught his attention and had bought a host of good horses. He was pretty confident that his horses would do well in classics. ''We have been making all the right moves. All that we need is a bit of luck in the classics,’’ he had told me even as the present lot of horses had begun their racing career. Unfortunately, he died a few days before Vijays Pride picked up her first Grade I success at Bangalore during the summer season. The success of Machiavellianism and Tintinnabulation has been just reward for the methodical investment that he did in racing. Pratap was a man who loved to own horses but he was rarely present at the race course when his horses ran.

The Derby success had eluded Vittal for long. This year has been a special year for him as his wards won two Group I races at Bangalore and Mumbai. ''I was sure of winning the Derby this year as I believed that even Vijays Champ had the class in him to win the big event. However, my owners insisted on bringing back Tintinnabulation for the Golconda Derby. I too was keen to ensure that I did not miss an opportunity to win the Derby on my home ground,’’ he said.
Jockey Pradeep Chouhan has been on a song accumulating winners with amazing consistency. The classic success has surely boosted his profile. He enjoys the status as the best Indian jockey at the moment after Prakash called it day earlier during the winter season.

Plenipotent resumed his winning ways swamping the opposition in the 1400 metres Secretariat Cup, a Category I race. Plenipotent had been a rousing performer in his first season but had lost his way after he was used as a pacemaker for his stablemate Machiavellianism. His last couple of runs helped re-acclimatize him to the more serious business of winning and helped in his orientation. Backed strongly to win the competitive race, Plenipotent tracked Da Xia into the straight before gradually leaving the field stranded to win by six lengths over Garcia Marquez who just about got the better of Al Sarrah for the second spot.

The winning streak of Mr Khoashteep was halted in the 1200 metres Squanderer Cup, a Category II race. Aphrodisiac who hadn’t shown the form of old was however backed to win in the lower category race but failed to deliver the goods. Mr Khoashteep was out of depth in this company as he struggled to take a favourable position. Key Note surged ahead inside the final furlong and shaped to win but was shocked by the late surge of Dusty Lady who managed to prevail by a whisker. Kings Cruise was third.

Sheer Genius was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Deccan Prince Cup, a Category II race but the favourite was left to cover too much of leeway in the straight. Lesser fancied Brahmani shot ahead inside the final 200 metres and sped away to establish a winning lead. Sheer Genius finished strongly but could only get the better of Aerosmith for the runner up berth.

Prasad Raju’s Staying the Best was backed to the exclusion of the rest in the 1400 metres Bhagyanagar Juvenile Million, a terms race for three year olds. The last win of Staying the Best did not guarantee however indicate an easy success. Staying the Best had to be fully ridden out to measure Dandelion in the final stride of the race. His win definitely saved the day for several punters who put more faith in on money horses alone. Sherman Oaks who had a hampered passage right through the race finished third.

Wow O Wow was the recipient of some strong support in the 1200 metres Eureka Forbes Youngsters Million but the got abroad filly was outpaced from the start. Ein Ein Ein led the field but could not sustain it beyond the final furlong as the Faisal Hassan trained Lovely Angel skipped away in the final furlong to win easily from Rainbow In The Sky

Emerald Reef was the betting rage in the 1200 metres Sikander-E-Aazam Cup (Div I), a Category III race. The progeny of Emerald Cat had no problem in obliging favouritism storming clear with a furlong left in the race to win emphatically from Rocking Racer. Mr Glorious who had lost considerable ground in his last start despite which he had finished an eye-catching third won the lower division of the race quite easily. He broke off level from the gates but as is his wont, did not show early speed. After being pulled out on the wide outside, he came home with a big run to win by a widening margin of three lengths over Gold Medal and Exclusive.

Narayan Rao trained Okai Okai Okai engaged Regal Groom in a stiff battle for supremacy in the 1600 metres Aristocrat Cup before getting stronger at the finish to win the event with a measure of comfort at nourishing odds.