October 29, 2007	Monday	Shawwal 16, 1428

LAHORE, Oct 28: Long shot bay colt, Janu Manu, upset all calculations winning the Wazirabad Cup ran over 1400m featuring the 9th Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.

He beat bay filly Lovely Gate by over eight lengths. The 40 to 100 favourite colt, Desert Prince put up a dismal show and was nosed out to third position with Intikhab-e-Bhakkar edging on the frame.

When the race began Intikhab-e-Bhakkar took the lead followed by Desert Prince. Both fought for the supremacy and Desert Prince headed into the lead in the straight. Soon Janu Manu appeared on the scene full of running, his rider M. Essa, galvanized him into action to take the lead and, win easily. The filly, Lovely Gate came from behind to dislodge Desert Prince further to third place, ending the winning streak of the colt.

The owner of Janu Manu, Khalid Malik, received the cup from Mohsin Baig, Editor in Chief , Online News Network, soon after the race.

The best performer of Sunday’s races was the bay filly Poly Cat, who won to her liking, the supporting and fifth event over 1400 metres. She beat Herry Can View by a big margin of a distance.

Royal Destiny and Volcano completed the frame among seven runners. Owned by Shoaib Tariq, the filly trained by Khadim Hussain was ridden by M. Hanif.

Syed Tasweer Hussain Shah’s filly Rag To Riches and the colt, Vendetta, raced brilliantly to win the first and second position, respectively in the term race for two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies gone over 1000 metres.

Jockey M. Hanif and trainer Sohail Aziz., returned home with a treble each. Hanif rode Chinkara, Rag To Riches and Poly Cat in the 1st, 3rd and 5th race while Sohail Aziz saddled Chinkara, Rag To Riches and and Iconic in the 1st 3rd and 4th race, respectively.

In the fourth race, when the odds of bay colt Scooby Do eased upward in the betting ring, a small section of race-goers held a mild demonstration in front of stewards box, demanding change of the rider. But it was announced on public address system that their demand could not be accepted because the colt was running after four-month absence from the track. The demonstrators dispersed peacefully later.

The stewards imposed a fine of rupees two thousand on riding boy Fareed Ali and also suspended him from riding for one month for his failure to ride on merit, blue-roan colt, New Bhakkar in the fourth race.

Four favourites obliged the punters when a card of six events was gone through. They were: Chinkara (40 to 100), Rag To Riches (25 to 100), Iconic (Even-money) and Poly Cat (20 to 100).

Results.

OKARA PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 1100M.

Chinkara (Wajid Ali Khan) 9-0 M. Hanif 1, Dillagi 9-1 Anjum 2, Bone Crusher 8-4 A. Alam 3 and Rana Choice 9-0 Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 3 L, 4 L, 5 1/2 L. Time one min 11 1/5 secs. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.GUJJAR KHAN PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1200M.

Stride to Moment (Rana Mohammad Akhtar) 7-10 Shakeel Mahmood 1, Cross Ruff 8-10 M. Zeeshan 2, Unter 8- 6 M. Nasir 3 and Willhewish 8-10 M. Atif 4.

Won by 6 L, 5 L, Distance. Time one min 15 2/5 secs. Winner trained by Imran.

NEELUM PLATE , A TERM RACE FOR TWO-YEAR-OLD THOROUGHBRED COLTS AND FILLIES (MAIDENS) 1000M.

Rag To Riches (Syed Tasweer Hussain Shah) 8-5 M. Hanif 1, Vendetta 8-5 Khalil Vicky 2, Dixi 8-5 M. Zeeshan 3, and Bright Flame 8-5 Tariq Habib 4.

Won by 3 L, Distance, 5 L. Time one min 3 3/5 secs. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

OKARA PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 1II 1000M.

Iconic (Syed Parvaiz Hussain Shah) 8-7 Khalil Vicky 1, Shah Pari 8-11 Tariq Habib 2, Dam Dama Dam 8-1 M. Atif 3 and Sohna Billoo 8-3 Sikander Khan 4.

Won by 3 1/2 L, 3 L, 4 3/4 L. Time one min 10 4/5 secs. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

WAZIRABAD PLATE CLASS IV DIV III 1400M.

Poly Cat (Shoaib Tariq) 8-8 M. Hanif 1, Herry Can View 8-10 Khalil Vicky 2, Royal Destiny 9-0 M. Zeeshan 3 and Volcano 8-9 Aamir Parvaiz 4.

Won by Distance, Neck, 2 L. Time one min 29 secs. Winner trained by Khadim Hussain.

WAZIRABAD CUP CLASS IV DIV II 1400M.

Janu Manu (Khalid Malik) 8-8 M. Essa 1, Lovely Gate 8-2 M Zeeshan 2, Desert Prince 9-2 Javed Iqbal 3 and Intikhab-e-Bhakkar 9-0 Aamir Parvaiz 4.

Won by 8 1/4 L, Head, 3/4 L. Time one min 27 2/5 secs. Winner trained by Azhar Ali.