December 20, 2007	Thursday	Zilhaj 9, 1428

LAHORE, Dec 19: Three-year-old chestnut colt Cheeta Aya performed stunningly when he stormed home to win the feature event in the over 1,000-metres race during the Lahore Gymkhana midweek races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

Ridden by the riding boy Tariq Habib, the colt beat favourite gelding Tallal The Great, ridden carelessly by A. Imran, in a photo-finish verdict by a neck.

Meanwhile Striker and Little Smile completed the frame among the eight runners. This was the day’s sixth and last race.

A race earlier, the four-year-old bay colt Ahsan The Great sprang a big surprise when he came from behind in the closing stages to win easily by three lengths.

Sun Shine finished second with Love Minister and Murad King completing the board. In all, 10 horses ran for the event gone over 1,000 metres.

Owner/trainer Zia-ur-Rehman and riding boy A. Alam shared the day’s racing honours. Each was accredited with a brace of winners. Zia-ur-Rehman sent out Dimple and Regulation in the second and fourth race, respectively, while A. Alam steered home Malika and Well Done in the third race, which was also the opener.

Only one firm favourite obliged the punters this time, while all other events were won by the second and third favourites.

The five to four money favourite dark bay gelding Regulation was extremely lucky to pip bay filly Sweet Lady by the shortest margin, in a photo-finish verdict, in the fourth race. As the horses returned home, A. Alam, Sweet Lady’s rider, lodged an objection against the winner for bumping into him during the home stretch. But the objection was promptly overruled by Lahore Race Club stewards Masood Pervaiz, Syed Parvaiz Hussain Shah and Khawaja M. Arif, after watching the race’s video.

Results:

Rohri Plate Class VII

Div I-B 1,000M.

Malika (Mohammad Rafiq) 9-0 A. Alam 1. Magic Dream 8-10 Shakeel Mahmood 2. Sohna Bhakkar 8-6 Majid Ali 3. Pretty 8-2 Khalid 4.

Won by 3 1/4 L, Neck, 4 1/4 L. Time one minute 10 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Hanif.

Rohri Plate Class VII

Div I-A 1,000M.

Dimple (Zia-ur-Rehman) 9-0 M. Akram 1. Non Stop 9-0 Majid Ali 2. Sohna Noor 8-10 Saqib 3. Leader’s Wing 8-6 Assad Abbas 4.

Won by 1/2 L, 2 L, 2 1/4 L. Time one minute 10 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

Malir Plate Class VI

Div III-B 1,000M.

Well Done (K. A. Ahmad) 8-8 A. Alam 1. Malang Aya 8-12 M. Waseem Khan 2. Company 8-12 M. Sharif 3. So Romantic 8-8 Khalil Vicky 4.

Won by 4 L, 2 3/4 L, 7 L. Time one minute 7 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

Malir Plate Class VI

Div III-A 1,000M.

Regulation (Zia-ur-Rehman) 9-0 M. Waseem Khan 1. Sweet Lady 9-0 A. Alam 2. Sabbat Qadam 8-10 Khalil Vicky 3. Sona 9-0 M. Hanif 4.

Won by Short-head, 5 1/2 L, 1 1/4 L. Time one minute 6 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

Malir Plate Class VI

Div II 1,000M.

Ahsan The great (Sh. Ashfaq Ahmad) 8-0 Khalid 1. Sun Shine 8-2 M. Waseem Khan 2. Love minister 9-4 Aamir Parvaiz 3. Murad King 8-12 Sajjad Hussain 4.

Won by 3 L, 1 3/4 L, 2 L. Time one minute 6 seconds. Winner trained by Qaiser.

Malir Plate Class VI

Div I 1,000M.

Cheeta Aya (Choudhry Mohammad Rafiq)9-2 Tariq Habib 1. Tallal The great 9-0 M. Imran 2. Striker 8-10 Anjum 3. Little Smile 8-5 M. Akram 4.

Won by Neck, 8 L, Head. Time one minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.