The thunders of the hooves were back on the tracks of Malakpet after almost a fortnight. But the silence at the grand stands was clearly visible on Sunday as only two favourites could make it to the top, in a card of nine races. Trainer Laxman Singh led in three winners while Prasad Raju and jockey Ch. K. Chary picked up a brace each.

Orochi once again set on a start-to-finish mission, in the R.Raghupathi Reddy Memorial Cup, but could not sustain and ended up fourth. The stable-mate Blast in Class, who had finished a close second to Orochi in his previous outing, surged ahead in the final furlong and thwarted the late dash of Cefiro. Vijay Marg finished third and the favourite Maximum City ended up a tame fifth.

The onslaught of the longshots started early in the afternoon when the fancied youngsters had to bite the dust in both the divisions of the Flirting Vision Plate. Disco Flash and Belle Dancer, both of whom had the advantage of the innermost draws, jumped out smartly. After leading the first furlong, Disco Flash decided to settle on the heals of Belle Dancer. Approaching the final furlong, Disco Flash sped past the Dancer to score an encore on his debut. One One One dropped the rider near the 400 metres.

Winning Strides went start-to-finish in the lower division and held on to the late challenge of the favourite Queens Fortune. Although Winning Strides ran green throughout the straight, he kicked on gamely from Queens Fortune who covered a lot of ground but fell short at the finish. Jockey N.M.Sequeira replaced K. Anil on Fabulous Gal. Mayfair Girl clipped on the heals of Pygmalion near the 600 metres and dropped the rider. 

Trainer Satheesh’s King Size won the higher division of the Malakpet Cup in a pulsating finish. Vijayam brought the field into view on the straight and was soon passed by Fire Bender who took the race to the wire. Toofan Express had jumped out without the jockey and the riderless horse running in front of the field may have disturbed the momentum of King Size near the distance post. Once alighted to the task, the favourite came up with king size strides to get the race on the wire. Satheesh and Imran Khan were not that lucky in the lower division, when the combination finished second on Ice Man. Caligatae tracked Punjab Regiment till the final bend and then shot into the lead opening a gap of over six lengths on the straight. Ice Man covered a lot of ground in the final furlong but was short by a little over a length. Royal Guard was withdrawn after he refused to get loaded.

Laxman Singh’s Artistic Emperor lifted the Dynamic Dancer Plate. Midway up the straight, T.S. Jodha took his mount Artistic Emperor to the front, passing Bakersfield and won comfortably. Global Star finished third.

The Krishna Cup for 4 year old and upward horses rated up to 50 in category III, run over 1100 metres, was divided into two races. Local Ikon, who won the higher division, was the most impressive winner of the day. Unleashing a terrific run in the final 100 metres, the Laxman Singh schooled Local Ikon breezed past Jet Express and Page Three. Page Three, Jet Express, Grand Act went past the winning post in a three way finish for the minor placing.

The favourite Sugar Lady dropped the rider on her way to the starting gates and bolted. She was subsequently withdrawn and Fusion Music who took the top spot in the betting missed the jump losing almost four lengths. Freak Fantasy was also slow at the gates but was brushed to the front early in the race and could not sustain on top of the straight. Change of Loyalty surged past Runway Model within the last 100 metres to win the race. Fusion Music came up with a late dash to finish a close third.

On a day of upsets, money poured in on Maximum City in the concluding race. Isn’t She Something had missed the kick and was brushed up to lead. Maximum City went past clearly on the straight and justified the favouritism giving no anxiety to his followers.

Al Tai finished second ahead of Bharadvij. Indian Army was chopped off while trying to run into a blind spot on the straight and fell back.