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| January 18, 2007 | Thursday | Zilhaj 27, 1427 |
Desert Queen breezes home to easy victory
LAHORE, Jan 17: Timely action taken by the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards saved punters from losing their bets on a favourite filly by substituting her rider to ensure she ran on merit in the feature event of the mid-week Lahore Gymkhana races on Wednesday.
Filly Desert Queen opened up a firm favourite and was heavily backed by the favourite backers. But her odds eased up from 60 to 100 to 80 to 100. The stewards sensing some foul play behind it called filly's trainer Haji Ghulam Sarwar to explain the position. Trainer Haji Sarwar admitted that the filly's rider, M. Hussain, is a weak rider and the filly cannot win under him. He was snubbed for all this and the stewards ordered substitution of Hussain with the riding boy Khalil Vicky.
When the race started, Desert Queen taking a flying start won the race defeating Aaja Bulbul by a length to land the feature event run over 1000 metres.
After the race, steward Lt Col Masood Pervez told Dawn that the Stewards had also fined Rs5,000 on Haji Ghulam Sarwar for engaging a weak rider with intentions that filly loses the race. “Normally stewards do not change riders at their own but this was a case of malpractice to tarnish the image of the sport so they decided to intervene in the interest of fair racing,” he said.
This reminded the race-goers of a similar incident involving the same trainer way back in 1976 at the Gulberg Racecourse when Sarwar withdrew from a race, his favourite horse Slokas backed heavily by punters. But the then LRC secretary late Abdul Hameed Khan recalled the horse back and he not only took part in the race but also won by a distance. Incidentally all the stewards attending the meeting were well aware of the incident.
Horse racing enthusiast appreciated the action of stewards. They said this would have positive impact on the sports as this showed management's keenness to ensure fair racing practices.
Riding boy Khalil Vicky was the hero of the crowd when he won on Desert Queen. He stole the limelight by bringing home three winners – Sir Ivanhoe, Armida and the Desert Queen. Two of his winners Sir Ivanhoe and Armida were trained by Sohail Aziz.
Riding boy Pervez Bhatti also scored a double through Rana Choice and Gujrat Princess.
Results:
PANJNAD PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 1000M:
Sir Ivanhoe (Syed Tasweer Hussain and Agha S.N. Haider) 8-10 Khalil Vicky 1, High Hope 9-4 M. Wasim Khan 2, Love Minister 9-3 A. Alam 3 and Booster 8-12 Khalid Jan 4.
Won by 1 3/4 L, 1 3/4 L, 5 L. Time one min 7 3/5 secs. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.
PANJNAD PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 1000M:
Rana Choice (Rana Mohammad Akhtar) 9-2 Pervez Bhatti 1, Wah Cisco Wah 9-0 Atif Javed 2, Cherry's Own 9-0 M. Wasim Khan 3 and Net Cash 8-10 M. Sharif 4.
Won by 7 L, 4 1/4 L, Distance. Time one min 6 1/5 secs. Winner trained by Aleemuddin.
PANJNAD PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 1000M:
Armida (Syed Pervez Hussain Shah) 8-4 Khalil Vicky 1, Royal Palace 7-9 Nazir Ahmed 2, Malang Aya 8-6 M. Wasim Khan and Laila 8-2 M. Hussain 4.
Won by 1/2 L, 2 1/2 L, 9 L. Time one min 6 4/5 secs. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.
KHARIAN PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1000M:
Gujrat Princess (Hassan Pervez Akhtar) 8-8 Pervez Bhatti 1, Beautiful Baby 9-0 Ahmed Shah 2, Welcome Mayla 7-12 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Valentino 8-7 Naseer Ahmed 4.
Won by Distance, 4 L, 4 L. Time one min 4 secs. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.
KHARIAN PLATE CLASS V DIV I & II 1000M:
Desert Queen (Raja Shaharyar Khan) 9-0 Khalil Vicky 1, Aaja Bulbul 7-13 Sajjad Hussain 2, Kind Minister 7-10 Pervez Bhatti 3 and Billoo The Great 7-9 M. Jahangir 4.
Won by 1 L, 2 1/4 L, 3 1/2 L. Time one min 5 1/5 secs. Winner trained by Haji Ghulam Sarwar.
LRC RIDING SCHOOL HORSE RACE 800M:
Stumpy (Akhtar Ali Bhatti) 8-7 Asif 1, Mosaic 9-4 Shakeel 2, Rusty 7-10 Aamir Wali 3 and Gypsy 8-4 Asad Abbas 4.
Won by 7 L, Distance, Short-head. Time 57 secs. Winner trained by Aamir Azad.
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