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While this was the first Derby win for P.S. Chouhan at Hyderabad, trainer S.A. Shehzad Abbas had won this race on Man of the Match in the year 2006. Shehzad Abbas had earlier led Chiquelle in the lower division of the Bangalore Cup and the double on this Derby day will be cherished by Abbas forever.
Prasad Raju’s Ave Maria made mince-meat of the opposition in the Kitty Bank Cup. Well settled in second till the field approached the final bend, Suraj Narredu had to just guide the 3-year-old filly and she gave him an arm chair ride to victory. Having ridden Chiquelle to victory earlier, it was a double for Suraj.
Leo D’Silva sent out three winners on the day, all at nourishing odds. El Paso slammed the opposition with a flying finish to lift the Kolkata Cup. Spot On, after her second to Messalina in the Fillies Trials Stakes, was pitched as the odds on favourite, against the other 11 runners in the race. Racing well in front on the straight, Spot On started to shorten her strides in the last 100 metres; Crocodile Hunter took advantage and looked to wrap it up, when Imran Chisty brought El Paso flying on the stand side to score an encore. Mallesh’s hard riding on Sprucespringstien made him finish a head behind Crocodile Hunter in third.
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Mr. Khader Alam Khan, Director, Golconda Textiles Pvt. Ltd., presenting The Golconda Textiles Deccan Derby Trophy to Mr. R. Vijay Kumar Imran Chisty, scored again in the very next race, the Chennai Cup, on Scubarioo. Scubarioo and Lone Ranger were locked in a keen tussle right from the start and as they passed the distance marker, the former kicked on, while Lone Ranger could not match strides and fell back to finish second.
Leo’s third winner was Bernardo in the concluding race, the higher division of the Bangalore Cup. Setting out on a start to finish mission, jockey Harish never found any difficulty and won the race with eight lengths to spare from Indian Storm. Alcohology and Feudal Lords finished behind Indian Storm in the same frame.
Gnaneshwar rode Narayan Rao’s Classic One to a splendid win in the lower division of the Mrs. Lakshmi Bhupal Memorial Cup. Jugnu had set out in front from the word ‘go’ over the 1,200 metres trip and was found to be fighting out gallantly with Stroke of Luck till the last 100 metres. With no racing experience this season, Stroke of Luck was finding it difficult to pass Jugnu on the home stretch and just as she managed to do so, Classic One came with a flourish to land the spoils. Easy Flash dropped the rider immediately after jumping out.
English Indian was found to be toying with the opposition right at the 800 metres marker and won as he liked in the higher division.
Wayne Smith rode the firm favourite, Carte Blanche, with a lot of confidence to lift the Mumbai Cup, the opening race of the day. Above the Line, who led the first six furlongs, tired out and finished third behind Nano War.
