October 08, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 25, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 7: Bay mare Royal Destiny showed an impressive turn of speed in the final strides to capture the Vision Group Cup during the pre-Eid Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.

Trained by M. Afzal, the mare beat Julia Robert by four-and-a-half lengths while Run And Win and Queen Of Music completed the frame.

Eight horses took part in the feature event, contested over 1100 metres, after last-minute withdrawal of Reborn. This was the fifth race of the day.

Four-year-old bay colt Charismatic landed the supporting and seventh event easily, a race for class four animals which was contested over 1100 metres.

Owned jointly by Masood Pervaiz and Javaid Khalid and trained by Iqbal Nawab, the winner was given a gem of ride by M. Zeeshan. He defeated all including Lahore Race Club (LRC) chairman Tariq Aziz’s colt Headingly by two-and-a-half lengths with Nosheen finishing third, eight lengths further behind.

The best performer of the day was bay filly Discovery, who brushed aside a strong challenge by filly Chill and beat her by about three lengths and won the sixth race of the programme.

Volcano and Lovely Gate fought neck to neck to complete the board in the same order.

Trained by Sohail Aziz, Discovery showed a great potential with her facile victory.

LRC stewards upheld an objection lodged by Weldon Shogun’s rider M. Wasim, who was placed second, against Iconic’s rider Khalil Vicky for using foul tactics and causing impediments for him near the winning post.

The stewards examined race’s video-film and decided to award the race to Weldon Shogun and relegated Iconic to second place. They also suspended Khalil Vicky’s riding licence for a month.

Iconic is owned by LRC steward Syed Pervaiz Hussain Shah.

Jockey Shahid Rehman was seen at his best when he rode home three winners – Cross Ruff, Royal Destiny and Discovery – in 4th, 5th and 6th races.

Among trainers, Sohail Aziz and Iqbal Nawab shared the day’s honour sending out two winners each.

Sohail saddled Armida in the first race and Discovery in the sixth race. Iqbal Nawab’s winners were Cross Ruff and Charismatic, owned by joint owners Masood Pervaiz and Javaid Khalid.

The pre-Eid meeting turned out a profitable one for favourite-backers when five favourites romped home in a card of seven races. They were: Armida, Cross Ruff, Royal Destiny, Discovery and Charismatic. They won in the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th races. The remaining two events were won by long shots – Weldon Shogun, who benefited from the upheld objection in the second race, and Magic Stone, who rallied from behind to win the third race.

Jockey Aamir Pervaiz, who has recently been reinstated to take part in races, was seen in the saddle on Sunday. He rode Toyota in the third race and was placed third behind Magic Stone and Baker Love. Aamir was banned from participating in the races after pulling the favourite, Toru Khan, in the Pakistan Derby 2007 in March.

The Next Lahore Winter meeting will be held on Monday (Oct 15). It will be a day/night event.

Results:

BAHAWALNAGAR PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-III 1000M:

Armida (Syed Pervaiz Hussain Shah) 8-13 Khalil Vicky 1, Bone Crusher 9-0 Irfan Raza 2, Dillagi 9-2 Anjum 3, Titan 7-12 Munir Ahmad 4.

Won by 3/4 L, Distance, 3/4 L. Time one min 4 4/5 sec.

Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

BAHAWALNAGAR PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-II 1000M:

Weldon Shogun (Mohammad Anees Butt) 9-4 M. Wasim 1, Iconic 8-12 Khalil Vicky 2, Jewna 9-2 Sajjad Hussain 3, Gold Dust 8-6 Ali Raza 4.

Won by Objection, 1 ½ L, 4 L. Time one min 5 4/5 sec.

Winner trained by Ameer Azad.

VISION GROUP PLATE CLASS-V

DIV-II 1100M:

Magic Stone (Shahid Mahmood) 8-9 Faisal Ali 1, Baker Love 8-0 M. Hussain 2, Toyota 9-0 Aamir Pervaiz 3, Stride To Moment 8-0 Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 5 L, 3 ¼ L, ½ L. Time one min 10 sec.

Winner trained by Aleemuddin.

BAHAWALNAGAR PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-I 1000M:

Cross Ruff (Masood Pervaiz and Javed Khalid) 9-2 Shahid Rehman 1, Shah Rani 8-6 Tariq Habib 2, Dam Dama Dam 8-0 Ali Raza 3, Rana Choice 8-6 Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by ½, 6L, 3L. Time one min three sec.

Winner trained by Iqbal Nawab.

VISION GROUP CUP CLASS-V

DIV-I 1100M:

Royal Destiny (Makhdoomzada Syed Abbas Mehdi) 9-0 Shahid Rehman 1, Julia Robert 9-4 M. Zeeshan II 2, Run And Win 8-10 Fareed Ali 3, Queen of Music 8-6 Majid Ali 4.

Won by 4 1/2L, 3L distance. Time: One min 9 1 /5sec.

Winner trained by M. Afzal.

BHALWAL PLATE CLASS-IV

DIV-II, III 1100M:

Discovery (Furrukh Shahzad Malik) 8-12 Shahid Rehman 1, Chill 7-10 M. Zeeshan 2, Volcano 8-0 Javed Iqbal 3, Lovely Gate 8-10 A. Imran 4.

Won by 2 3/4L, neck, neck. Time one min 8 3/5 sec.

Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

THE BHAWAL PLATE DIV-I 1100M:

Charismatic (Masood Pervez and Javed Khalid) 8-12 M. Zeeshan 1, Headingley 8-4 Shahid Rehman 2, Nausheen 9-4 Shakeel Mahmood 3, Royal Fish 8-0 Sajjad Hussain 4.

Won by 2 ½ L, 8L, neck. Time one min 8 3/5 sec.

Winner trained by I. Nawab.