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| March 11, 2002 | Monday | Zilhaj 26, 1422 |
King Fisher lands Pakistan Derby
LAHORE, March 10: The dark-bay colt King Fisher galloped to a surprise victory in the Pakistan Derby 2002 run over a-mile-and-a-half in the slowest-ever time at the Racecourse on Sunday.
Owned by Sohrab Khan, the four-to-one chance King Fisher was confidently ridden by jockey Shahid Rehman. He is trained by Amjad Ali II.
The prized colt King Fisher beat the bay colt Jet Master by a length in a hard-fought finish.
The chestnut filly Early Bird finished third, another two-and-three-quarter of a length behind after nosing out the fancied colt Son Of A Gun to fourth position. In all, 13 colts and fillies competed in this big event which was run at a slow pace.
The victory of King Fisher gave jockey Shahid Rehman and trainer Amjad Ali II their second wins in this classic. Both had earlier won the Pakistan Derby in 1999 through Fair Magic.
Shahid Rehman was lucky to be engaged for the ride of the colt King Fisher a couple of days ago, after the disqualification of Karachi’s champion colt Steal The Show, on whom he had been declared to ride.
Shahid first refused to ride King Fisher but on persuasion by a prominent owner Mahmood Khan, he agreed. This proved a blessing in disguise for the trio the owner, the trainer and the jockey.
After the race ended, Salah-ud-Din II, the rider of Jet Master who was placed second, lodged an objection against the winner for pressing from the first furlong marker to the finishing post.
The objection was over-ruled by the LRC stewards, who also forfeited the fee deposited to lodge the objection.
King Fisher is son of Dexter and he clocked two minutes 40 4/5 seconds over the distance which is the record slowest time of this race.
This was the sixth race of the day. The LRC chairman Syed Fakhar Imam gave away the cup to the winning owner.
The main supporting event, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, run over nine furlongs was bagged by the four-year-old bay colt Desert Dream.
The colt bred at Raja Sher Mohammad’s stud farms at Faisalabad, is a son of English sire Theatre’s Dream.
Brilliantly partnered by riding boy A. Imran, Desert Dream defeated the bay horse Great Grandy by five lengths.
The bay gelding Think Thank finished third, one length further behind while the aging horse Admiral’s Way completed the frame, another two-and-a-half lengths back.
In all, 11 lined up for this fifth race of the afternoon. The Chairman of the Jockey Club Of Pakistan, Dr Shafqat Ali Khan, gave away the cup to the winning owner Asif Qayyum.
Earlier, The National Breeders Cup run over the sprinting distance of six furlongs, was annexed by the bay filly Democracy who was piloted brilliantly by jockey Salah-ud-Din II.
This filly beat the chestnut filly Royal Fantasy by three- fourth of a length after a ding-dong duel. Navaho Princess and Flame made up the board. In all, seven competed in this event.
The rank outsider grey mare Dilnasheen II caused the biggest upset of the day by claiming the Choudhry Niaz Ahmad Memorial Cup in a bold front-running finish.
Run over nine furlongs, Dilnasheen II made every post a winning post and defeated the fancied Good Justice by a short-head in a photo-finish.
Dilnasheen II kept her head always in front and when challenged seriously by Good Justice in this third race of the day, picked up renewed pace to register a narrow win.
President General Pervez Musharraf’s principal secretary Tariq Aziz gave away the cup to the winning owner.
The LRC stewards took a serious view of the in-and-out running of the fancied bay filly Gissless in the seventh race of the day.
Backed heavily because of her fine performance last Sunday when she had won in a smart time of 1 minute 15 1/5 seconds over six furlongs, Gissless ran off the board today (Sunday).
The stewards stopped the entry of the filly in races and stood down jockey Shahzad till completion of inquiry into Gissless’ dismal showing.
The decision was appreciated by the punters who were agitating over the “performance” of Gissless.
Jockey Salah-ud-Din II, Riding boys Qamar Zaman and A. Imran brought in a brace of winners each, while trainer Mohammad Bashir sent in three and trainer Zahid Khan saddled two winners to have a major share in the day’s honours.
Following are the results:
LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV III & IV 6F
Darling Of The Royalty (Makhdoomzada Hassan Raza) 8-3 Qamar Zaman 1, The Cleopatra 7-11 Shahzad 2, Lucky Credit Queen 8-4 Mahmood Ali 3, Silk Route 8-6 Shahid Mustafa 4. (All 14 ran).
Won by: 4 3/4L, 4L, 2 3/4L. Time 1 min 15 1/5 sec. Winner trained by Zahid Khan.
NATIONAL BREEDERS CUP 6F
(Terms race for three-year-old colts and fillies.
Democracy (Nayyar Sheikh) 8-7 Salah-ud-Din (II) 1, Royal Fantasy 7-9 Javaid Iqbal 2, Navaho Princess 7-9 Shahzad 3, Flame 8-1 Qamar Zaman 4. (All seven ran).
Won by: 3/4L, 1L, 1 1/2L. Time 1 min 15 1/5 sec. Winner trained by Mohammad Bashir.
CHOUDHRY NIAZ AHMAD MEMORIAL CUP CLASS VII DIV I & II 9F
Dilnasheen II (Arif Mahmood Butt) 7-12 Majid Khan 1, Good Justice 8-6 Salah-ud-Din (II) 2, Love Moon 8-3 Javaid Iqbal 3, Dur-e-Yemen 7-10 Shahzad 4. (All 10 ran).
Won by: Sh-hd., 4 1/4L, 4 1/4L. Time 1 min 55 2/5 sec. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.
LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV II & III 6F
Bureaucrat (Mohammad Bashir) 8-4 Salah-ud-Din (II) 1, Blu’s Wendy 9-2 Khurrum Sheikh 2, Martial Law 8-9 Majid Khan 3, The New Champion 9-7 M. Rehan 4. (All 14 ran).
Won by: 3/4L, Sh-hd., 1 1/2L. Time 1 min 14 3/5 sec. Winner trained by owner.
QUEEN ELIZABETH II CHALLENGE GOLD CUP CLASS IV & V 9F
Desert Dream (Asif Qayyum) 7-10 A. Imran 1, Great Grandy 9-1 Khurrum Sheikh 2, Think Thank 8-10 Javaid Iqbal 3, Admiral’s Way 9-9 Salah-ud-Din (II) 4. (All 11 ran).
Won by: 5L, 1L, 2 1/2L. Time 1 min 53 3/5 sec. Winner trained by Mohammad Bashir.
PAKISTAN DERBY 2002 12F
(Terms race for four-year-old Pakistan-bred colts and fillies.
King Fisher (Sohrab Khan) 9-0 Shahid Rehman 1, Jet Master 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 2, Early Bird 8-11 Khurrum Sheikh 3, Son Of A Gun 9-0 Aamer Parvez 4. (All 13 ran).
Won by: 1L, 2 3/4L, Head. Time 2 min. 40 4/5 sec. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.
LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV & V 6F
Silver Heart (Arif Khurshid) 7-12 A. Imran 1, I Am The King 9-0 M. Rehan 2, Fair Boy 8-11 Khurrum Sheikh 3, Best In Show 8-4 Iqbal Khan 4. (All 17 ran).
Won by: 8 1/4L Neck, 1 3/4L. Time 1 min 16 1/5 sec. Winner trained by Tanveer Aslam.
LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV V & VI 6F
Royal Strength (Makhdoomzada Syed Raza Shah) 8-2 Qamar Zaman 1, Value Of Life 8-6 M. Hussain 2, Lucky Bailiff 8-6 Kamran 3, Loveliest 8-2 A. Imran 4. (All 18 ran).
Won by: 4 1/2L, Dist., 4 1/2L. Time 1 min 15 4/5 sec. Winner trained by Zahid Khan.
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