January 10, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 30, 1428

LAHORE, Jan 9: Fancied roan-horse, Home Star, was given a patient but forceful ride by riding boy Shakeel Mahmood to hit the front in the dying strides to win the feature event during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

The winner owned/trained by Aleem-ud-Din strode clear of the pack while entering into the straight among 16-strong field. In the last 200m the Mian Maahir Ahmad-owned colt Scooby Do came from outside to challenge and took the lead for a while but Home Star fought back and surged past Scooby Do to win by one and a half lengths. Had there been some good rider other than apprentice Majid Ali, Scooby Do would have won the race. This was the sixth and last race of the day.

The fancied Grey horse Sabbet Qadam completed a hat-trick of victories when winning the third race. The five-year-old Sabbet Qadam had already won two races on Dec 26 and Jan 2 last to achieve the feat.

The most comfortable winner of the day was the filly, Raksh-e-Raqeban owned by Syed Alamdar Shah and trained by Sohail Aziz, who won the fifth race by a big margin. None of her 15-rivals could match her strides and finished staggering far behind in the final 200m.

Geo Bhakkar, Sohna Murad and Mahima completed the frame. The filly gave Syed Alamdar Shah his first win since he joined the ranks of owners recently.

In the third race, the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards stopped entries of eight runners for poor performance and also fined their riders Rs 10,000 each. The horses and riders are: Mubasharah (Khalil Vicky), Look My Luck (Hamid Raza), Desert Glow (Khalid), Never Fail (Imran Pervaiz), Faryal (Sajjad Hussain) The News (Anjum), Pick Of The Day (Munir Ahmad), and Blue Fire (Shakeel Mahmood).

The riding boy Shakeel Mahmood, won the day’s racing honours riding home three winners.

Results.

JHELUM PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 1,000M:

Scented Dust (Sardar Abdul Aleem) 8-10, M. Waseem 1. Sohna Bhakkar 8-9 A. Wahab 2, Mere Lal 8-10 Shafqat S. 3 and Shahbaz Love 8-6 M. Akram 4.

Won by 3 ½ L, 1 L, Neck. Time one min 11 3/5 secs. Winner trained by Aamer Azad.

SANGLA HILL PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 1,000M:

Sweet Lady (Nawabzada Ghulam Dastgir) 8-4 Shakeel Mahmood 1, Armida 8-7 Khalil Vicky 2, Great Rhythm 7-12 M. Jehangir 3 and So Romantic 7-12 A. Alam 4.

Won by 2 L, 6 L, ½ L. Time one min 6 secs. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

SANGLA HILL PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 1,000M:

Sabbet Qadam (Nisar Ahmad) 8-12 A. Imran 1, Babbu The Great 8-2 Zameer 2,.Murad King 8-2 A. Alam 3 and Blue Fire 7-12 Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 2 L, Distance, 1 ½ L. Time one min 7 1/5 secs. Winner trained by Haji Abid Mahmood.

SANGLA HILL PLATE CLASS VI DIV III 1,000M:

Sun Ray (M. Imran) 8-10 Shakeel Mahmood 1, Have No Fear8-6 Abdul Wahab 2, Mah-e-Noor 8-8 Khalid 3 and Great Khan 9-0 A. Alam 4.

Won by Neck, 2 ½ L, 2 L. Time one min 7 4/5 secs. Winner trained by the owner.

JHELUM PLATE CLASS VII DIV 1-A 1,000M:

Raksh-e-Raqeeban( Syed Alamdar Shah) 8-8 Khalil Vicky 1,Geo Bhakkar 8-4 M. Waseem 2, Sohna Murad 8-4 Ali Raza 3 and Mahima 8-4 Sikander Khan 4.

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

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1,200M:

Home Star (Aleem-ud-Din) 9-2, Shakeel Mahmood 1.Scooby Do 8-8 Majid Ali 2, Shah Pari 8-0 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Mirana Choice 8-12 M. Hanif 4.

Won by 1 ½ L, 3 ½ L, 5 L. Time one min 20 3/5 secs. Winner trained by the owner.