June 18, 2007	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 02, 1428

KARACHI, June 17: Favourite three-year-old chestnut colt Lava Man repeated his winning feat to make it two wins on trot as proceedings were marred by cancellation of the third race in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

The odds on favourite galloped to 10 lengths victory. Kat Mandu, Sonia and Foolish Pleasure followed the winner in same order.

Khyber, a four-year-old bay colt, who was fancied for a place was withdrawn in the morning declaration, leaving 12 contenders in fray.

Four-year-old dark bay filly Stormy Kiss claimed the feature event beating five-year-old bay Arab Hi Arab by distance in a photo-finish.

Filly Black Girl finished third, beaten by distance while five-year-old bay Tharkyee completed the frame also losing by distance.

Stormy Kiss was backed by the connection as they prefer to give colt Cash Flow a run only. Bay filly Sweet Smile was withdrawn as nine runners faced the starter.

Filly The Princess Arab sprang a surprise by posting a one-length victory over Red Rufus to clinch supporting event. Favourite mare Voo Doo Doll settled for third. Highly bred three-year-old bay filly Fantastic Baby also obliged racing fraternity claiming her maiden victory as she edged out Shiracco by four-and-a-half lengths.

Seven-year-old chestnut Romeo who became favourite in the betting ring, beat Daruwala by half length to land the opener after Tun Baba Tun was withdrawn in the morning declaration.

Running on the heels of Romeo, Daruwala overtook him in the last 20 yards but again pulled the horse to finish second. Zaheer Ahmed, rider of Daruwala, was suspended for one month and fined Rs10,000 for ‘unsatisfactory riding’.

Second choice, The Choice Of The Day, outpaced favourite Khas-ul-Khas by 10 lengths to win the second race.

The third race was cancelled following hue and cry by the public. When betting commenced, colt Mr Mention Not was installed favourite with filly Rolex being joint favourite. But the owners of former withdrew it which led to resentment. When the owners of the latter also decided to withdraw their horse, the management cancelled the race.

Meanwhile, two horses — Khas-ul-Khas and Foolish Pleasure — were expired after running their races.

Results:

THE LAJAWAB PLATE DIV IV AND V CLASS VII 4 1/2F:

Romeo (M. Aslam Khan) 8-9(cr8-2) M. Rashid 1, Daruwala 8-11(cr8-4) Zaheer Ahmed 2, Silver March 7-10 M. Yousuf 3, Desperado 8-2 M. Essa 4. Won by 1/2L, 8L, 8L. Time: One min 4 2/5 sec.

Winner trained by owner.

THE LAJAWAB PLATE DIV III AND IV CLASS VII 4 1/2F:

The Choice Of The Day (M. Yaqoob Butt) 8-

8 M. Yousuf 1, Khas-ul-Khas 9-1 M. Nasir 2, Martini 8-4 Mumtaz Ali 3, Chistian The Great 9-0 M. Manzoor 4. Won by 10L, 6 1/2L, 5 1/2L. Time: 0.59 2/5 sec.

Winner trained by owner.

THE LAJAWAB PLATE DIV II

CLASS VII 5F:

Fantastic Baby (Tanveer Mirza and Kamal Farooq) 8-2 Fahim K 1, Shiracco 9-2 Dasrat 2, Count The Money 8-0 M. Nasir 3, Hi Darling 8-13(cr8-10) Mumtaz Ali 4. Won by 4 1/2L, 4L, 2 1/2L. Time: One min 3 2/5 sec.

Winner trained by M. Rafiq K.

THE LAJAWAB PLATE DIV I

CLASS VII 5F:

Lava Man (Syed Ismail Shah) 9-0 Ghulam Shabbir II 1, Kat Mandu 7-13 M. Manzoor 2, Sonia 9-0(cr8-7) Tahir Ali 3, Foolish Pleasure 8-2 S. Khan 4. Won by 10L, 8L, 12L. Time: One min 3 4/5 sec.Winner trained by S. Ehtisham.

THE SABINA PLATE CLASS VI 5F:

The Princess Arab (Syed Nadeem Anwar) 8-10 Nazil Hussain 1, Red Rufus 8-10 Mumtaz Ali 2, Voo Doo Doll 8-2 M. Amjad 3, Jawan Bakht 9-0 M. Essa 4. Won by 1L, 1/2L, 1/4L. Time: One min 3 4/5 sec.

Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.

THE SHANDAR PLATE CLASS IV AND V DIV I AND II 5F:

Stormy Kiss (Haji Khuda Bux Rajar) 9-2 M. Nasir 1, Arab Hi Arab 7-7 Fahim K 2, Black Girl 9-5 M. Amjad 3, Tharkyee 7-11 Ghulam Shabbir II 4. Won by Dist, Dist, Dist. Time: One min 2 3/5 sec.

Winner trained by Mushtaq Ali Khan.—AZ