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| August 31, 2003 | Sunday | Rajab 2, 1424 |
Thousand Up and Rajwar fancied to triumph
KARACHI, Aug 30: A card of seven races has been drawn for the Karachi Summer Gymkhana races which will be held today (Sunday) at the local turf. The first race will begin at 1 pm.
The day’s card looks favourable for the patrons of the turf unless form horses put up reversal of form or horse owners gang up to pull a fast one on the followers of form.
On last Sunday one witnessed owners ganging up when the owners of Departure On Time backed their main rival Satellite Star instead of fully backing their own charge, and the supporters of Departure On Time did not get their money’s worth.
In today’s card there are couple of races where the contest is just between two horses and one cannot rule out the possibility of backing just one horse eliminating any chance of real competition. People sitting in the glass house have to ensure that the story is not repeated.
Besides, the stewards have to watch that the owners do not engage inefficient riders on form horses. Last Sunday, the owners of Rajwar, the form horse picked Taj Mohammad, to ride him giving clear signal that the horse was not on job. The race was, however, cancelled but till the announcement of the cancellation, the stewards had not announced any change of rider. Today, Rajwar is running in the third race and with only Neelam Taab the only other form horse should just run away with top honours as the main challenger is not well placed in the weights too.
The followers of form should have a flying start in the opener where Thousand Up looks a certainty. Knight Gambler, Mahasagar and Sonia should fight for lower berths as they have shown consistency of late.
Deniro is meeting a poor lot in the second race and has come down quite low in handicap therefore should have no difficulty in beating the likes of Grey Boy, Bull Dancer and Black Door Man.
In the fourth race, Power Plus, Sardar and Ranjha are the form horses whereas Free Lancer and Millions Winner draw the attention on their morning track work. The race should provide lot of thrill if the horses are allowed to run on merit. I would, however, prefer Power Plus to complete hat-trick of wins on his last two impressive wins. Free Lancer on his morning work out comes in as the second best while Sardar can upset my calculations.
The fifth race should be a dual between Visitor and Departure On Time where the race-goers will have to be over cautious before laying their bets. I would, however, like the later to humble Visitor who will be running alongwith some very experienced lot.
Stable mates Strike The Gold and Keen Winner in the sixth race are the pick. The former though will be carrying a heavy impost of 9-5 is much advance, therefore, should be the stable fancy. Keen Winner should fight out with Khasul Khas and Roberto Carlos Fan for lower berths.
In the concluding event of the day, Fire Of Desire and The New Champion are the form horses but The Speed Star who is appearing after about six months lay off is from a different class therefore with the support of the connections should have edge over Fire Of Desire who is the second best.
The following are the runners and our selections:
Pak Plate DIV G II - abt 5F
One Touch 9-2, Thousand Up 9-0, Only For You 8-13, The Clifton King 8-12, Smoky Prince 8-12, Follow The Leader 8-12, Knight Gambler 8-12, Star Of The Day 8-12, Ustadon Ka Ustad 8-12, High Star 8-9, Lovely Concept 8-7, Mahasagar 8-6, Your Honour 8-6, Shamsul Queen 8-5, Ever Shine 8-5, Decent Command 8-3, Ghori 8-0, Reliable 7-13, Sonia 7-12.
Win..........Thousand Up
Place........Sonia
Pak Plate DIV G I - abt 5F
Shining Steel 9-0, Field Prince 8-10, Champion Lady 8-9, Mr J 8-8, Snake River 8-7, Nawab 8-7, Decent Gold 8-7, Image Command 8-6, Black Door Man 8-6, Grey Boy 8-3, Sher Zai 8-2, Hamza Sahib 8-1, Deniro 8-0, Bull Dancer 7-13, Mera Jugnoo 7-13, Sea Biscuit 7-12.
Win..............Deniro
Place............Grey Boy
Pak Plate DIV VII - B - abt 5F
Field Fighter 9-2, Sherganzer 9-2, Neelam Taab 9-2, Rajwar 8-12, Mystical 8-12, Lucky One 8-10, Join The Millennium 8-10, On Song 8-8, X-Tasy 8-8, Sweet Grandy 8-8, Arabian Majesty 8-2, Power Of Tiger 8-2, Maha Raja 8-1, Wings Of Hope 8-0, Raka Poshi 7-11, Speedy 7-11.
Win............Rajwar
Place..........Neelam Taab
Pak Plate DIV VII-A - abt 5F
Raj Kumar 9-2, Micky Mikadi II 9-1, Two Door Song 9-0, Free Lancer 9-0, Power Plus 9-0, My Majesty 8-13, Ragni 8-12, Millions Winner 8-11, Sardar 8-10, Ranjha 8-7, My Darling 8-6, Burning Sky 8-5, Ceaser’s 8-0, The Classic Style 7-11, Not To Worry 7-8, Cuddly Natasha 7-8.
Win........Power Plus
Place......Free Lancer
Pak Plate DIV VI - abt 5F
Sahib-e-Alam 9-0, Pasbaan 9-0, Laurel 9-0, Ray Of Light 8-13, Visitor 8-13, Order Of The Day 8-12, Raaz 8-12, Mega Hit 8-11, Defence Academy 8-11, Snake Eyed 8-9, Wonderful Peace 8-8, Sapno Ki Rani 8-7, Miss Oozi 8-6, Gold Tip 8-5, Departure On Time 8-2, Ring Master 8-2, Falcon 8-2, Sona 7-12.
Win...........Departure On Time
Place.........Visitor
Pak Plate DIV IV & V - abt 5F
Strike The Gold 9-5, Captain Crash 9-5, Keen Winner 9-0, Al Jarrar 8-10, High Standard 8-8, Lover’s Lady 8-4, Khasul Khas 8-2, Dur-e-Yemen 8-0, Wing Commander 7-13, Al Zarrar 7-10, Robalto Carlos Fan 7-10.
Win...........Strike The Gold
Place.........Keen Winner
Pak Plate DIV I, II & III - abt 6F
Gambling Girl 9-7, Fire Of Desire 9-3, Bold Commander 9-0, The Speed Star 8-11, Jugni 8-11, Charkh Bareen 8-11, Donatello 8-2, Al Ashia 7-12, The New Champion 7-9, The Champion Strides 7-8, Hoor-e-Mehran 7-6.
Win...........The Speed Star
Place.........Fire Of Desire
DAY’S BEST: Thousand Up
GOOD DOUBLE: Rajwar to Departure On Time.
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