The first day of October had a well-filled card of nine races. The Melbourne Racing Club Trophy was the conspicuous event, the trophy being presented by the Melbourne Racing Club, Australia. With four horses taking the starter's orders, the initial pace was a bit slow with none of the four keen to hit the front. The favourite Auxilliary from Netto's yard settled in second place as the four runners spread out in single file till the final bend. Samuel Fargeat, who is now familiar with the Hyderabad track, guided his mount towards the inner rails as the field straightened up and Auxiliary accelerated beautifully to win by almost a street. This four-year-old filly by Tejano, out of Canaletto who has struck a purple patch, set a new course record on the monsoon track stopping the clock at 1 minute 25.51 seconds, erasing the year-old record of Coral Gables. Ruby Queen, Doing My Best and Lenavi filled the minor placing in that order.
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Auxiliary |
The Charminar Trophy, run over 2,400 metres, was the opening race of the afternoon. Golden Shadow from S.A. Shezad Abbas's school was the firm favourite at half-money in a field of five. Going into the front on the straight, Golden Shadow was struggling to keep the lead as the stable mate Silver Bullet and Dark Stranger began to pounce on her. Dark Stranger sprung a surprise beating the favourite to second spot.
The P.R. Khade Memorial Cup were divided into two divisions. Trainer Netto picked up his double on Dream Counsel in the upper division. Running about five off the fence, Dream Counsel surged ahead of Embattled who was essaying along the rails to win by over a length. The favourite Rudolf Valentino had a rough passage around the 1,000 metres and was never in the hunt after that. Chief De Mission who has placed in all his runs this season finished third. The lower division was trainer Laxman Singh's double. With leading jockey Harish, Vijay Marg was sent in as the favourite. Bossei Girl likes to run freely in front and that she did again leading till the last 300 metres. Adelaide put up a challenge but drifted out under pressure as Vijay Marg made his move alongside and went clear to win. Bossei Girl took the third spot. Good Speed missed the jump and covered places gradually to finish fourth.
The lesser-fancied Monduro won the upper division of The Valley of Roses Plate. Having passed the leader Dancing Harbour on the straight, Monduro began to shift out but jockey Shoban Babu was quick to gather his mount before he could do any damage to Vijaysena who was close behind.
Fire Bender was rock steady at 10 to 6 on and justified the favouritism claiming the lower division. Jockey Suraj Nareddu had positioned Fire Bender in second behind Indian Brave Heart who led till the 400 metres. On top of the straight, Fire Bender shot into the lead and was never in any kind of threat by the rest of the field. Zorbonaut who had slipped to the rear around 800 metres came up late to finish second. Baywatch Babe, who was always with the front bunch, finished third.
J. Silvester-trained Benazir won the P.Antony Memorial Plate. Benazir who had won her previous outing was available at 5 to 1 in the betting. Lucrative led the field till the last 200 metres where Jay Jay and Turning Point began their challenge. Jockey Ch. K. Chary manoeuvred his way through the field to win comfortably in the end. Jay Jay finished second and Turning Point Third.
The Prince Regent Plate was divided into two. The lower division was won by Green Vision. Easy Touch, who was backed as a certainty in the race, had to bite the dust. Racing second till the bend, Suraj Nareddu took Easy Touch to the front on top of the straight. Green Vision who was a bit tardy at the start covered ground quickly to be in touch with the leaders. Green Vision, who was on the rails, was pulled out by Chouhan and the A.K. Jaiswal-owned gelding responded well to pass the favourite to win by four lengths.
The concluding race was the higher division of the Plate and Kohinoor Fairytale won it. Al Awal, Accordion, Tiara, Chamatkar and Kohinoor Fairytale were all in contention at 300 metres from home. Gnaneshwar brought Kohinoor Fairytale widest of all and sped past to register a comfortable win. Al Awal, Accordion and Tiara finished behind the winner in that order.
On a day when favourites took a beating with only three obliging, trainers Laxman Singh and D. Netto were the only professionals to score a double.