LAHORE, March 27: The fancied chestnut filly Value Of Life, ridden superbly by riding boy M. Jehangir, galloped to victory in the supporting event of the mid-week Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse Wednesday.
Value Of Life is a three-year-old filly from Cry For The Clown-out-of-Meri Ma and she beat the joint-favourite bay colt Gold Hi Gold by two-and-a-half lengths. The bay gelding Thank You Boss was beaten to third spot nine lengths further behind, while the bay mare Mohni Road managed to complete the frame, four-and-a-half lengths further back. In all, 13 ran for this event contested over the sprinting distance of five furlongs.
The event turned out to be a thrilling encounter between Value Of Life and Gold Hi Gold. Both fought stride by stride in the final furlong before Gold Hi Gold ran out of stamina, paving the way for Value Of Life to emerge as a clear winner. Mid-way through the race, Value Of Life looked a beaten filly. But her rider M. Jehangir prompted her into action and she responded well to register a maiden victory after a ding-dong duel in this fifth race of the afternoon. The contest was fully enjoyed by the racing fans.
The feature event, which was the sixth and last race of the day, was cancelled by the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards before it began. As soon as the horses reached the starting gates, it transpired that no horse barring the fancied gelding Crysler was ‘on job’. The stewards, visualising a lack of fair competition, decided to cancel the event.
Earlier, the stewards had cancelled the opening event when the race was in progress and the odds-on favourite the red-roan horse Jack Kallis was leading comfortably, it was announced on the public address system that the race stood cancelled for want of true competition. Propounding fears of the stewards, Jack Kallis registered a facile victory which was a true indication of what had been “cooked up”.
The cancellation of the two events reduced the six-event card to four, which is a rare phenomenon. The four races were contested over the sprinting distance of five furlongs.
Following are the results:
VEHARI PLATE CLASS VII DIV VIII 5F
(The race was cancelled while in progress due to lack of fair competition).
VEHARI PLATE CLASS VII DIV VIII (C) 5F
Gently (Mukhtar Hussain Waseem) 8-12 Nazir Ahmad 1, De Star 8-4 A. Aziz 2, Noor Bakht 7-12 Qamar Zaman 3, Golden Time 9-0 Tariq Habib 4. (All 12 ran).
Won by Sh-hd., 1/2L, 2 1/4L. Time 1 min 8 2/5 sec. Winner trained by Mohammad Hanif.
VEHARI PLATE CLASS VII DIV VII 5F
Lucky Lass (Riaz-ul-Haq Qureshi) 8-11 Mahmood Ali 1, Rocket Fuel 9-0 A. Imran 2, Waqar The Great 8-8 Tariq Habib 3, Den See 8-4 Zahid Ali 4. (Only 17 ran).
Won by 3 1/2L, 1L, 3/4L. Time 1 min 7 1/5 sec. Winner trained by Akhtar Mir.
VEHARI PLATE CLASS VII DIV VI 5F
Thank You Dear (Zeeshan Ayub) 8-1 A. Imran 1, Fifty Six Fifty Six 8-8 Qamar Zaman 2, Little Master 8-11 Khurrum Sheikh 3, Lot Of Thanks 8-8 M. Hussain 4. (All 13 ran).
Won by 3/4L, 1 1/2L, 7 3/4L. Time 1 min 5 4/5 sec. Winner trained by Ayub Butt.
VEHARI PLATE CLASS VII DIV V & VI 5F
Value Of Life (Choudhry Zahid Javaid) 8-5 M. Jehangir 1, Gold Hi Gold 9-0 A. Imran 2, Thank You Boss 8-1 Shahid Mustafa 3, Mohni Road 8-10 Kamran 4. (All 13 ran).
Won by 2 1/2L, 9L, 4 1/2L. Time 1 min 4 3/5 sec. Winner trained by Mina Javaid.
VEHARI PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV & V 5F
(The race was cancelled before it was run as the stewards feared there was lack of competition).
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