Ghazan Prince hangs on to win Sindh Cup: Horse-racing
By Ian Fyfe
KARACHI, April 10: The chestnut colt Ghazan Prince ridden by Saif Mohammad, held on to his early lead and just managed to beat the late appearing Al Faris by ¾ of a lengths and lift the Sindh Cup at the Winter Gymkhana Meeting held on Sunday afternoon at the Karachi Racecourse.
The Naseeb-e-Dushman-Millionaires sibling owned by Irfan Mehdi hit the front with the hot favourite Blues Traveller when the race began, but the latter soon fell behind as Killer Instincts grabbed the second spot from Al Faris carrying a heavy burden of 10 stones on his back. Blues Traveller slipping away lay fourth.
Turning for home over the seven furlong journey the position remained the same, but a furlong from the winning post Al Faris urged on by young Fahim Karim increased his strides and almost caught up with Ghazan Prince at the winning post.
Killer Instincts was third, with Blues Traveller limping in fourth. Earlier, before the race began, Captain Crash, stable companion of Al Faris and Blues Traveller was withdrawn from the race.
Jockey Saif Mohammad not content with this triumph scored again, this time on Shah Mardan Shah II Pir Pagaro VII’s three-year-old Goroghantaal, even though the grey colt pacing with Raheel Jan went wide at the bend.
Sarazen with a late burst finished second with the fancied Tharkyee third and Summer Wine completing the frame.
Another gentleman who finished the afternoon’s racing programme with a good double was owner Edward Chou who had his Winners through the five-year-old bay mare She Is Lady in the second event and Real Gift in the concluding event.
After running a very backward race last week under riding boy Arif Nazir finishing off the board, Real Gift with Sohail Ahmed this time astride, was the favourite in the betting ring with Sharp Cat and Princess J.T.M. also coming under heavy betting.
When the race began Real Gift took the lead with Princess J.T.M. and Sharp Cat close on his heels. Suddenly the race was all over for Princess J.T.M., falling heavily on the track dislodging rider Fahim Karim.
With the bay filly out of the race Real Gift ran on magnificently and went on to win the six furlong journey, with Sharp Cat, Penny and Wonder Thunder completing the frame.
This victory also enabled jockey Sohail Ahmed and trainer Shafqat Ali figuring in the success of She Is Lady, to also finish with a brace of Winners.
Sardar Abdul Aziz’s chestnut horse Welcome Pachino surprised all and sundry by upsetting the applecart of the raging favourite Ghori in the opening event. Ridden by Tariq Baran Welcome Pachino in contention after a long layoff, Won the race with ease finishing eight lengths ahead of second placed Ghori. This triumph presented trainer Cajetan Colaco with a Winner after a lean period of three years.
The bay mare High Light ridden by M. Yousuf galloped to victory in the third event, beating Tag Team by four lengths, after top weight Ladla, who usually loves to run in the front, stayed behind and finished a disappointing fourth behind Raaz.
As mentioned in these columns, Auzy sprinting in from behind collared Silent Love at the winning post to win the fourth race by a neck. Ridden by M. Wasim II, the Winner first got the better of Jaguar pacing earlier with Silent Love and just when it seemed that the latter was heading for a fine win, victory was snatched in the last stride. Noor –e-Arab presented or readers with another Winner.
Piloted home by Fahim Karim, the dark bay filly came from behind with a thundering burst to beat stable companion Issey Miyke and Snake River to present new trainer Ghulam Channa with his first Winner.
The next race meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 16.
Following were the results:
QUEEN PLATE CLASS VII DIV VI 5F
Welcome Pachino (Sardar Abdul Aziz) 8-8 Tariq Baran 1, Ghori 8-9 Tahir Ali 2, Jango 8-6 S. Khan 3, McGrath 8-7 M. Amjad 4.
Won by 8L, 3/4L, 2 1/2L. Time 1 min 7 2/5 sec. Winner trained by Cajetan Colaco.
QUEEN PLATE CLASS VII DIV V 5F
She Is Lady (Mr. Edward Chou) 8-8 Sohail Ahmed 1, Afzaal Prince 8-12 Zulifqar Ali, Super Boy 8-8 M. Khursheed 3, Super Time 9-0 Yousuf Ikram.
Won by 5L, 3/4L, 5L. Time 1 min 9 2/5 sec. Winner trained by Shafqat Ali).
QUEEN PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV 5F
High Light (Mr. Khawar Hanif) M. Yousuf 1, Tag Team 9-2 M. Irfan 2, Raaz 8-4 Lateef 3, Ladla 9-3 M. Manzoor 4.
Won by 4L, 3L, Head. Time 1 min 6 2/5 sec. Winner trained by M. Hanif.
QUEEN PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 5F
Auzy (Mr. Umer Mobeen) 8-11 M. Wasim II 1. Silent Love 8-8 M. Manzoor 2, Jaguar 8-10 Pervaiz Ali 3, Voodoo Doll 8-0, Ghulam Shabbir II 4.
Won by Neck 6L, Dist. Time 1 min 5 4/5 sec. Winner trained by M. Rasheed
QUEEN PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 5F
Noor-e-Arab (Mr. Imran Ahmed) 9-4 Fahim Karim 1, Issey Miyke 8-9 Ghulam Shabbir II 2, Snake River 8-8 M. Kashif 3, Casanova 8-6 Nadim Akhtar 4.
Won by 2L, Neck, 4L. Time 1 min 6 1/5 sec. Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.
SINDH CUP 7F (For four-year-old Pakistani horses and upwards).
GHAZAN PRINCE (Mr. Irfan Mehdi) 7-7 Saif Mohammad 1, Al Faris 10-0 Fahim Karim 2, Killer Instincts 7-10 Ashiq Ali 3, Blues Traveller 8-2 Ghulam Shabbir II 4.
Captain Crash was withdrawn from the race before coming under the starter’s orders.
Won by 3/4L, 4L, 7L. Time 1 min 30 3/5 sec. Winner trained by Karim Bachoo.
SWEET PLATE CLASS VI 6F
Goroghantaal (Shah Mardan Shah II Pir Pagaro VII) 8-3 Saif Mohammad 1, Sarazen 8-4 Pervaiz Ali 2, Tharkyee 9-0 Sher Mohammad 3, Summer Wine 8-10 M. Manzoor 4.
Winner trained by Allah Judrio.
JHANG PLATE CLASS IV & V DIV I & II 6F
Real Gift (Mr. Edward Chou) 8-8 Sohail Ahmed 1 Sharp Cat 7-11 Yousuf Ikram 2, Penny 8-1 Arshad 3, Wonder Thunder 8-12 M. Kashif 4.
