November 22, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 29, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, Nov 21: The three-year-olds have established themselves as a vintage crop by their fine performances during the Lahore Summer/Winter Meetings held at the Racecourse from the first week of July to November 19.

So far six Summer Meetings followed by a dozen Winter Meetings have been held during the period under review in which some of three-year-old colts and fillies put up spectacular performances to earn great applause from the sport lovers. They are: Discovery (Cisco Wells-Dante Again), First Look (Cry For The Clown-Flame), Jut Bahadur (Tora Bora-Blood Berry), Noor (Cisco Wells-No Lunch), Nosha (Bedouin Invader-Flying Fury), Toru Khan (Tora Bora), War Admiral (Harb) to name some. They not only impressed race-goers but also pleased their breeders and owners by their feats, winning three to four races in a row or at random showing wonderful acceleration to cut down rivals to their sizes.

However, the progenies of the deceased English sire stamped his bloodline superiority by their bold performances winning the highest number of stake races.

The seventy-year-old, leading trainer Haji Ghulam Sarwar, proved the saying " old is gold" sending out highest number of winners, particularly in the highest strata.

When Haji Sarwar was picked up trainer by co-owners, Lahore Race Club (LRC) chairman Tariq Aziz and steward Khawaja Arif for their stable it was clear that his fortune is on the upward curve and it has proved since the last season. During the period from July to November he too is leading the trainers statistics table. Recently his trained filly Trace Hit gave him 18th winner by winning the Pakistan Oaks 2006 sponsored by Dewan Petroleum.

By virtue of his association with the same stable Jockey Shahid Rehman rode the highest number of winners.

At the outset of the meetings, when he was nominated to ride for the stable as first choice jockey, it was mystifying for other riders riding mounts of the same stable. According to official statistics he has ridden 32 winners during this period setting a cracking pace in the contest for jockey's championship.

Nearly half a dozen, somewhat surprising incidents took place which dented efforts for fair racing when even the leading jockeys including Shahid Rehman and Salah-ud-Din were charged for not keeping straight course and changing lanes without adhering to racing rulers. As a result they disturbed the running of other horses or horse resulting in a number of objections, a couple of them were upheld and jockeys punished.