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| March 23, 2003 | Sunday | Muharram 19, 1424 |
Super Star lifts Ghazali Cup in style
LAHORE, March 22: Fancied colt Super Star lived up to his 40 to 100 favourite status, outpacing his dozen rivals to win the Ghazali Cup run over 1200 metres during the 24th Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Saturday.
The meeting was scheduled to be held on Sunday but had to be advanced by a day because of Pakistan Day falling that day.
Ridden confidently by jockey Khurrum Sheikh, Super Star lay fourth behind King’s Way, Rukhsh and Storm Bird. Increasing his speed after negotiating the final bend, Super Star led the entire field, holding off the challenge by late rushing Storm Bird, to win the race three lengths. Rukhsh was nosed out to third position while Rukhtas Again managed to complete the board narrowly beaten by a head in a photo-finish. King’s Way leading the entire filed over the first 800 metres, lost stamina and finished among the also ran.
The winner is owned and trained by Choudhry Mohammed Munir. The cup, a Class V Division I race was the fifth in the racing order.
The outstanding performance of the day came in the fourth and supporting event when second favourite brown filly Prime Force, won the race to her liking from fancied African Knight by three and three-fourth of a length in a handy position.
This is for the consecutive third time that African Knight had finished second. He was ridden by jockey Shahid Rehman. Royal Fantasy and Lover’s Lady completed the board among six runners left in after the last-minute withdrawal of Sound Of Music from the contest.
Riding boy M. Zeeshan gave a fine display of horsemanship by scoring the solitary double of the day. He first brought in three to one chance Zargar in the third race and then rode home Free My Heart in the sixth and last event of the card. To his good luck he substituted Nadeem Ikram in the saddle on Free My Heart at the starting gate, under the orders of the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards. Chestnut Free My Heart was backed from four to one down to twos.
This was a day of even exchanges between punters and bookmakers when three well-backed runners won in a card of six events. Four events were contested over the sprinting distance of 1200 metres and two over 1000 metres.
Following were the results:
MASTUNG PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 1000M
Morning Bird (Pervaiz Iqbal Butt) 8-3 Shahid Mustafa 1, Arizona 7-10 Shahnawaz, Canwara 8-9 Qamar Zaman 3, Zuhair Choice 7-6 M. Zeeshan 4.
Also ran: Shadow Snatcher, Lucky Winner, Fairy Fred, Puma King, Royal Performance, Al Ailan, Science Fiction, Dancing Margina, Gun Salute, Knock First, and Honey Harvest.
Won by 1/2L, 3L, 7 3/4L. Time 1 min 2 3/5 sec. Winner trained by Mohammed Hanif.
GHAZALI PLATE CLASS V DIV I 1200M
Glorious Song (Munir Ahmad Dar & Fawad Ahmad Cheema) 9-0 Shahid Rehman 1, Bold Venture 8-1 Faisal Tahir 2, Beena Roy Baby 7-4 Javed Iqbal 3, Flame 7-12 Shahid Mustafa 4
Green Hill, Moon Walker, King’s Best, Fair Boy, Royal Strength, Shining Steel, Al Jarrar, Meri Kajal ad Lucky Bailiff.
LYRICAL PLATE CLASS IV DIV II 1200M
Zargar (M. Shafiq Sadiq) 8-8 M. Zeeshan 1, Dare To Dream 9-0 A. Aziz 2, Moment To Moment 8-13 Shahid Rehman 3, Innuendo 7-4 M. Jehangir 4.
Also ran: Nain Tara, Candy Babe and Royal Salute.
Won by 1/2L, 3/4L, Dist. Time 1 min 14 1/5 sec. Winner trained by Memraiz Khan.
LYRICAL PLATE CLASS IV DIV I 1200M
Prime Force (Sohrab Khan) 9-0 Aamar Parvez 1, African Knight 8-10 Shahid Rehman 2, Royal Fantasy 8-12 Abdur Rahim 3, Lover’s Lady 8-1 Shahzad Ahmad 4.
Also ran: Al Ashiya and Gold Bird.
Won by 3 3/4L,Head, 1L. Time 1 min 14 4/5 sec. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.
GHAZALI CUP CLASS V DIV I 1200M
Super Star (Choudhry Mohammed Munir) 9-2 Khurrum Sheikh 1, Storm Bird 9-8 Tehseen Hussain 2, Rukhsh 7-5 Javed Choudhry 3, Rukhtas Again 8-8 Shahzad Ahmad 4.
Also ran: King Of Hearts, Legality, Shama, Aechoo, Snow Line, King’s Way, Departure On Time, Sheridan and Time Is Gold.
Won by 3L, Neck, Head. Time 1 min 15 4/5 sec. Winner trained by owner.
MASTUNG PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 1000M
Free My Heart (Arif Mahmood Butt) 8-3 M. Zeeshan 1, Speed Gun 8-8 Shahid Rehman 2, Lucky Credit Queen 9-0 Javed Choudhry 3, Cape Town 8-12 M. Hussain 4.
Also ran: Faheem Choice, Win Dancer, Nature’s Splendour, Bone Crusher, Venture Maid, Two-B, All At Sea, Waseem’s Love and Hunza.
Won by 3L, 4L, 3 1/2L. Time 1 min 3 3/5 sec. Winner trained by Mohammed Afzal.
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