January 31, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 21, 1429

LAHORE, Jan 30: Fancied bay horse Wonderful Smile stunned racegoers by his wonderful performance, winning the supporting event by a big margin during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

The 70 to 100 favourite beat chestnut Sun Ray by a distance. So Romantic finished two lengths further behind at third, while dark bay gelding Regulation completed the board among the 13 starters. Piloted by rider A. Alam, the winner clocked one minute 5 2/5 seconds in the over 1,000 metres sprinting distance race, the fourth contest of the day.

Wonderful Smile’s easy victory fully justified the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards’ action of suspending the riding boy M. Alam, who ran off the frame on the same horse last Wednesday, for good. They had also fined the owner a sum of Rs40,000.

A race later, the long shot gelding Blue Fire registered an upset victory by landing the feature event in the over 1,000 metres race.

Ridden by Shakeel Mahmood, the neglected gelding beat another long shot bay horse Zahoor-e-Sehar by over two length’s margin while favourite bay mare Armida finished third, another two lengths behind. Bay mare Quite Life completed the frame among the 13 runners.

Riding boy Sajjad Hussain stole the limelight when he brought home a brace of winners through favourite mare Mahima in the opener and the neglected Victory King in the following event.

The odds-on favourite Noor-un-Nisa was found to be sluggish at the staring gates and the odds eased upward. The filly was eventually withdrawn from the second race on the veterinary officer’s recommendation after LRC stewards had her examined by him.

Sharing the day’s proceedings evenly, three favourite horses -- Mahima (70 to 100), Laina Again (50 to 100) and Wonderful Smile (70 to 100) -- won in a card of six events.

Meanwhile jockey Aamir Parvaiz has called untrue the allegations that he does not allow his mounts to run on merit. Speaking to Dawn, the jockey, a former champion rider, said even good horses are beaten by those seemingly not on chance. It does not mean that there has been any foul play. Some horses cannot keep up with the pace set by the other competitors in a race after which the backers allege they had not been allowed a fair running by the rider.He reminded the same thing happened to Toru Khan when he was beaten in the Pakistan Derby 2007 and he had said under oath that “he did not pull the colt”. Clarifying further, he said why pull the colt and that too one owned by someone like Mr Tariq Aziz, the LRC chairman, in an important race like the Derby when victory brings fame for the rider, trainer, owner as well as the horse’s breeder.

Accused of not allowing the colt to run on merit, he kept pleading innocence until time proved him right, although he had to undergo much humiliation and hardship during it all. “I have never pulled horses,” he said in a choked voice. While complaining about the harsh treatment of the press, he said that he had much reason to be grateful to the LRC chairman and stewards for reinstating him.

Results:

Chakwal Plate Class VII

Div 1-B 1,000M:

Mahima (Mohammad Ashraf) 8-8 Sajjad Hussain 1, Miss Mano 8-6 Naseer Ahmad 2, Geo Bhakkar 8-12 M. Waseem 3 and Sohna Murad 8-8 Majid Ali 4.

Won by 4 1/4 L, 3 1/2 L, 8 1/2 L. Time one minute 7 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Qaiser.

Chaman Plate Class VII

Div III 1,000M:

Victory King (Sagheer Hussain) 7-12 Sajjad Hussain 1, Mah-e-Noor 7-12 Khalid 2, Dimple 7-10 Majid Ali 3 and Company 7-10 A. Alam 4.

Won by 1 L, Head, 2 1/4 L. Time one minute 7 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

Chakwal Plate Class VII Div I-A 1,000M:

Laina Again (Mian Abdul Majeed) 9-0 Parvaiz Bhatty 1, Chocolate Boy 8-6 M. Akram 2, Magic Dream 8-10 Shakeel Mahmood 3 and Lucky Boy 9-0 A. Alam 4.

Won by Distance, 4 L, 9 1/2 L. Time one minute 7 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

Chaman Plate Class VI

Div II 1,000M: Wonderful Smile (Malik Javaid Aan) 7-8 A. Alam 1, Sun Ray 8-2 Shakeel Mahmood 2, So Romantic 8-4 M. Hussain 3 and Regulation 8-1 Naseer Ahmad 4.

Won by Distance, 2 L, 3 3/4 L. Time one minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Choudhry Mohammad Rafiq.

Chaman Plate Class VI

Div I 1,000M:

Blue Fire (Imran) 7-10 Shakeel Mahmood 1, Zahoor-e-Sehar 8-6 M. Waseem Khan 2, Armida 8-11 Khalil Vicky 3 and Quite Life 7-10 Sajjad Hussain 4.

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

Chakwal Plate Class VII

Div I-C 1,000M: Pretty (Khalid Naseer Chughtai) 8-2 Khalid 1, Lal Pari 8-6 A. Alam 2, Bioactice 8-4 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Bagh-o-Bahar 9-0 M. Azam 4.Won by Neck, 2 L, 2 L. Time one minute 10 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by F.I. Nawab.