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Coral Gables came in as a two year-old into Leo D’Silva’s stable and Jockey Harish was astride when he won for the first time in his career. Since then, winning races has become a habit for Coral Gables and in all probability he may be pitched in The Qutab Shahi Cup, to be run on Sunday, 24th January, 2010. Six years is the upper limit for horses to race at Hyderabad but the stewards of Hyderabad Race Club, as a special case, have given Coral Gables three extensions so far and the old man has proved his worth, winning 13 races during the extended period. Going by the zest the old man still has for racing, another year’s extension cannot be ruled out.
Leo had an icing on the cake when he won the Goldilocks Plate, through Gallant Prince. Backed down from sixes to threes, Gallant Prince, put in a tremendous gallop in the final furlong, to whiz past the long time leader, Al Jouf, and win the race. Chief De Mission came up with a long stretched run from an impossible position to take the runner up berth pushing back Al Jouf. It was a good day for jockey Harish as well, scoring a double, teaming up with Leo.
Trainer Donald Netto was the busiest man at the races on Monday, winning four races, thus clearing half the day’s card. This enabled him to jump to the second position in the trainer’s tally, with just four points behind Prasad Raju. While Samuel Fargeat was on Reality Show and Temple Bells, R.B. Shinde rode Surya Putra while apprentice Kiran Naidu opened the account for the new batch of riders from the Hyderabad Riding School, winning on Sahebzadi, in the concluding race.
Samuel rode Reality Show in copy-book fashion to win the higher division of the Mountain Lily Plate. Positioning himself in fifth till the runners straightened up, Samuel unleashed a good run to surge ahead of Yanamaria. Secret Asset, a winner in the lower set in her previous outing, impressed while finishing second.
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Surya Putra set out on a start-to-finish mission in the division I of the Might is Right Plate, run over five and a half furlongs. Opening a gap of over four lengths on the straight, Surya Putra had a comfortable margin of a length and a half from Madho at the finish. Fabulous Gal finished third ahead of Sir Almas.
Jockey Mclaughlin managed to go to the front briefly on Baywatch Babe while Sahebzadi veered out of the straight course, in the lower division but the persistence of apprentice Kiran Naidu brought sahebzadi on even keel to win the race. Baywatch Babe continues to be a maiden even at five years of age.
The two divisions of the Northern Dancer Plate, for three year-old maiden horses were won by jockey Tom Mclaughlin. Don Valentino from the home stable of Shehzad Abbas won the lower division while Ananth Vatsalya’s Alybro lifted the higher division.
