Arjun Mangalorkar’s ward Royal Crystal, ridden by S. John, won the Golconda Derby Stakes, the prestigious event of the season, held here on Sunday (Jan. 19). The winner is owned by Dr. Suresh Chintamaneni. Trainer Deshmukh saddled four winners on the day.
Consigliori took a smart jump and led all the way before Royal Crystal, who was racing fourth gradually, improved and joined the leader in the straight. The latter fought out every stride and got the better of the former by a neck in a nail-biting finish.
1. TELANGANA CUP (1,800m), 4-y-o & over, rated 60 to 85 (Cat. II): GOLDEN FORTUNE (Ajeeth Kumar) 1, Galloping Gangster (Neeraj) 2, Exclusive Blue (Srinath) 3 and Havelock Cruise (Akshay Kumar) 4. 2, 1 and 3/4. 1m, 52.86s. ₹26 (w), 14 and 9 (p), SHP: 14, FP: 175, Q: 69, Tla: 289. Favourite: Exclusive Blue. Owners: M/s. Zaveri Stud Farm Pvt. Ltd. rep. by Mr. Champaklal Zaveri, Mrs. Bindu C. Zaveri, Miss Harsha N. Desai & Miss Niti N. Desai. Trainer: Deshmukh.
2. PRINCE PRADEEP PLATE (1,400m), 4-y-o & over, rated upto 25 (Cat. III): SUN DANCER (I. Chisty) 1, Halo’s Princess (P.S. Chouhan) 2, Hopscotch (Mukesh Kumar) 3 and London Bridge (Gopal Singh) 4. 1-1/4, nk and nk. 1m, 28.77s. ₹45 (w), 13, 8 and 15 (p), SHP: 28, FP: 232, Q: 105, Tla: 6,077. Favourite: Halo’s Princess. Owners: M/s. Keerthi Narasimhachar, Rajesh Sanghai, Ketineni Sayaji Rao & Atul Bhanu Shangai. Trainer: L. D’Silva.
3. SHARAVAN KUMAR MEMORIAL CUP (1,800m), 4-y-o & over, rated 40 to 65 (Cat. II): THE GREAT GATSBY (Ashhad Asbar) 1, City Of Wisdom (Suraj Narredu) 2, Beyond Limits (Srinath) 3 and Reno Star (Mukesh Kumar) 4. 2, 3-1/2 and 2. 1m, 52.75s. ₹50 (w), 13, 11 and 7 (p), SHP: 38, FP: 379, Q: 218, Tla: 1,595. Favourite: Beyond Limits. Owners: M/s. Vijay Racing & Farms Pvt. Ltd. rep. by M/s. Vijau Kumar Gupta & Susheel Kumar Gupta. Trainer: Laxman Singh.
4. BANGALORE TURF CLUB CUP (1,400m), maiden 3-y-o only (Cat. II), (Terms): GOOD CONNECTION (David Egan) 1, Queen Daenerys (Mukesh Kumar) 2, Ice Berry (Nakhat Singh) 3 and Lightning Power (Akshay Kumar) 4. 3-1/4, 1/2 and hd. 1m, 28.09s. ₹9 (w), 6, 12 and 29 (p), SHP: 42, FP: 72, Q: 58, Tla: 1,296. Favourite: Good Connection. Owners; M/s. Vijay Racing & Farms Pvt. Ltd. by M/s. Vijay Kumar Gupta & Susheel Kumar Gupta & M/s. Poonawalla Rac. & Br. P.L. rep. by M/s. Z.S. Poonawalla & S.Z. Poonawalla & Mr. Aditya P. Thackersey. Trainer: Deshmukh.
5. MYSORE RACE CLUB CUP (1,400m), 5-y-o & over, rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III): ASHWA ARJUN (Abhay Singh) 1 Wood Bridge (Akshay Kumar) 2, Sea Castle (Mukesh Kumar) 3 and Royal Dynamite (Srinath) 4. Not run: Delphina. 2, 1-1/4 and hd. 1m, 27.57s. ₹66 (w), 18, 9 and 9 (p), SHP: 25, FP: 467, Q: 224, Tla; 3,445. Favourite: His Excellency. Owner: Mrs. Anita Chauhan. Trainer: M. Srinivas Reddy.
6. ROYAL WESTERN INDIA TURF CLUB CUP (1,100m), 4-y-o & over, rated 40 to 65 (Cat. II): HAPPY TOGETHER (Jitendra Singh) 1, Celeritas (B.R. Kumar) 2, Esteva (Akshay Kumar) 3 and City Of Blossom (Mukesh Kumar) 4. 1, 2-1/4 and nk. 1m, 5.47s. ₹58 (w), 16, 10 and 10 (p), SHP: 26, FP: 589, Q: 259, Tla: 4,471. Favourite: Sovet Pride. Owner: M.A.M. Ramaswamy Chettiar of Chettinad Charitable Trust rep. Mr. A.C. Muthiah. Trainer: Satheesh.
7. VIJAY TEXTILES JUVENILE MULTI MILLION (1,200m), 3-y-o only (Terms): LOMBARDY (David Allan) 1, Air Blast (Nicky Mackay) 2, Allabouther (P. Trevor) 3 and Flameoftheforest (Yash) 4. 1-1/4, 3-1/2 and hd. 1m, 11.86s. ₹17 (w), 6, 6 and 9 (p), SHP: 18, FP: 54, Q: 21, Tla: 299. Favourite: Air Blast. Owners: M/s. Vijay Racing & Farms Pvt. Ltd. rep. by M/s. Vijay Kumar Gupta & Susheel Kumar Gupta, M/s. Poonawalla Rac. & Br. P.L. rep. by Mr. Z.S. Poonawalla & Ms. Simone Z. Poonawalla & Mr. Aditya P. Thackersey. Trainer: Deshmukh.
8. MADRAS RACE CLUB CUP (1,400m), 4-y-o & over, rated 75 & above (Cat. I): PRINCE VALIANT (P.S. Chouhan) 1, Isabella (David Allan) 2, Highly Acclaimed (Surya Prakash) 3 and That’s My Class (A.A. Vikrant) 4. 5, 1 and nose. 1m, 24.93s. ₹11 (w), 7, 7 and 10 (p), SHP: 23, FP: 62, Q: 31, Tla: 285. Favourite: Prince Valiant. Owner: Mr. Ahmed Alam Khan. Trainer: Deshmukh.
9. GOLCONDA DERBY STAKES (2,400m), 4-y-o only (Terms): ROYAL CRYSTAL (Western Aristocrat-Sparkling Crystal) S. John 1, CONSIGLIORI (Air Support-Caprese) David Allan 2, PASO ROBLES (Arazan-Mawaheb) Suraj Narredu 3 and VIJAYS SINGHAM (Leitir Mor-Zarandja) Srinath 4. Nk, 2-1/2 and nk. 2m, 31.54s. ₹62 (w), 11, 7 and 6 (p), SHP: 19, FP: 329, Q: 122, Tla: 526. Favourite: Paso Robles. Owner: Dr. Suresh Chintamaneni. Trainer: Arjun Manglorkar.
10. BHAGMATI CUP (1,600m), 4-y-o & over, rated 20 to 45 (Cat. III): GAZEBO (B.R. Kumar) 1, Nova Scotia (David Egan) 2, Rhine (P. Sai Kumar) 3 and Ice Warrior (Nakhat Singh) 4. 1-1/4, nk and shd. 1m, 40.91s. ₹49 (w), 14, 9 and 16 (p), SHP: 24, FP: 237, Q: 138, Tla: 5,095. Favourite: Mahashakti. Owner: Mr. A.C. Muthiah. Trainer: Satheesh.
Jkt (i): ₹2,48,351 (two tkts.), Runner-up: 3,801 (56 tkts.); Jkt (ii): 1,31,026 (11 tkts.), Runner-up: 4,609 (134 tkts.); Mini Jkt (i): 39,169 (five tkts.), (ii): 6,898 (38 tkts.); Tr (i): 2,457 (14 tkts.), (ii): 3,192 (29 tkts.), (iii): 1,581 (89 tkts.).
