May 28, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1428

KARACHI, May 27: Fancied four-year-old bay colt Captain Black galloped to three-quarter-of-a-length victory to land the feature event in the Gymkhana race meeting at Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Running on the heels of filly Sweet Smile in a pack of ten runners after mare Fantasia was withdrawn, the colt overtook her in a late burst to justify his top billing.

It was the last race of the programme which enabled the trio of owner, trainer and rider to end the day on shining note. Owner Syed Ismail Shah and rider Ghulam Shabbir II came out with a treble apiece while trainer S. Ehtisham sent four winners.

Filly Gwenivare finished four lengths behind to secure third place while mare Patricia completed the frame.

As predicted, five-year-old bay Baap Re Baap with M. Nasir aboard also obliged punters when he coasted four lengths victory to register fourth win on trot in the supporting event.

He was followed by The Princess Arab, Thanks Naeem and Harry Potter for the places.

Three-year-old chestnut colt Lava Man with no form worth created quite a stir when he picked up spoils in the second race. Janu Love Inshu finished second while favourite Shiracco had to be content with third place. Owned by Ismail Shah he was piloted home by Ghulam Shabbir II.

Lava Man’s stable mate four-year-old filly Bewitched who was installed favourite in the betting ring presented owner Ismail Shah with yet another winner in the next race.

The filly who failed to finish on board so far claimed her maiden four-and-a-half lengths victory with rider Lateef in the saddle.

Lateef later powered colt Hal Chal to half length victory in the next race to register back-to-back win.

Second favourite bay mare Sonia posted a one length victory over Hamza Joy to claim the fifth race which was marred by re-betting. It all started when three-year-old colt Beyond Belief with no form worth was heavily backed by punters and later withdrawn by the owner which resulted in re-betting.

A late change of rider enabled bay Jack In The Box to claim top division race of class VII. An apprentice rider A. Ahmed was replaced by experienced jockey Ghulam Shabbir II when the betting was about to end. The modus operandi of changing riders at the last moment frequently smells foul play and shattering the confidence of people. This needs to be looked into.

Results:

THE PAK PLATE CLASS VI 5F:

Baap Re Baap (Zulfiqar Ali Qureshi) 8-4 M. Nasir 1, The Princess Arab 8-7 Nazil

Hussain 2, Thanks Naeem 8-5 M. Amjad 3, Harry Potter 8-2 M. Naeem 4. Won by 4L, 2 1/2L, 4 1/2L. Time: One min 4 3/5 sec.

Winner trained by M. Aslam Khan.

THE KHUSHBOO PLATE DIV II

CLASS VII 5F:

Lava Man (Syed Ismail Shah) 8-2 Ghulam Shabbir II 1, Janu Love Inshu 9-5 M. Khizer 2, Shiracco 9-4 Lateef 3, Sweet Grandy 8-0 Asghar Ali 4. Won by 1/2L, 1 3/4L, 3L. Time: One min 5 2/5 sec.

Winner trained by S. Ehtisham.

THE KHUSHBOO PLATE DIV IV

AND V CLASS VII 4F:

Bewitched (Syed Ismail Shah) 7-10 Lateef 1, Tom Cruise 9-2 M. Nasir 2, Tun Baba Tun 8-6 Fahim K 3, Gul Bano 8-9 Naseem Ahmed 4. Won by 4 1/2L, 2 1/2L, 5 1/2L. Time: 53.1/5 sec.

Winner trained by S. Ehtisham.

THE KHUSHBOO PLATE DIV III

AND IV CLASS VII 4 1/2F:

Hal Chal (Haji Munir Ahmed) 8-4 Lateef 1, Powerful Gambler 9-0 M. Nasir 2, Mixed Blessing 8-8 M. Manzoor 3, Charlie 8-10(cr8-3) Zaki Zakir 4. Won by 1/2L, Dist. 1/2L. Time: 58 sec.

Winner trained by S. Ehtisham.

THE KHUSHBOO PLATE DIV II

AND III CLASS VII 5F:

Sonia (Rafiullah) 9-3 Tariq Baran 1, Hamza Joy 8-11 Rehan Usman 2, Moment To Moment II 9-0 M. Amjad 3, Azam The Great 8-5(cr7-12) M. Nawaz Bilal 4. Won by 1L, 1 1/2L, 1 1/4L. Time: One min 6 2/5 sec.

Winner trained by Ramzan A.

THE KHUSHBOO PLATE DIV I

CLASS VII 5F:

Jack In The Box (Kamil Malik) 8-13(cr8-6) Ghulam Shabbir II 1, Khyber 8-5 Fahim K 2, Jawan Bakht 9-0 M. Nasir 3, Trust Again 8-12(cr8-9) Sohail Ahmed 4. Won by 3 1/2L, 1 1/2L, 7L. Time: One min 4 sec.

Winner trained by Allah Judrio.

THE KARACHI PLATE CLASS V

DIV I AND II 5F:

Captain Black (Syed Ismail Shah) 9-2 Ghulam Shabbir II 1, Sweet Smile 8-2 M. Amjad 2, Gwenivare 8-5 S. Khan 3, Patricia 7-11 M. Nasir 4. Won by 3/4L, 4L, 7L. Time: One min 2 2/5 sec.

Winner trained by S. Ehtisham.