March 13, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4,1429

LAHORE, March 12: Fancied bay filly Pick Of The Day really lived up to her name by landing the fifth race on the card during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s races were held in tight security following Tuesday’s suicide-bombing attacks which claimed many lives. Rickshaws and motorcycles were not allowed to enter the Lahore Race Club (LRC) premises.

Pick Of The Day, backed by the connections at 80 to 1,000 down to 30 to 100, was fourth when the race started but she gradually accelerated her pace to overtake the frontrunners one after the other and finally beat Al Ain by half-a-length’s margin at the winning post.

Lucky Coin and So Romantic completed the frame among the nine runners. Trained by Haji Fazal Hadi, Pick Of The Day was confidently piloted by jockey Faisal Tahir.

The feature event, the Khushab Plate class VI division I, was claimed by the fancied filly Aaja Bulbul, who registered a pillar to post victory by easily defeating Cheeta Aya. Honest Minister finished third with Brave Heart fourth in the seventh and last race of the day.

A race earlier, three-year-old bay filly Dream Act put up a vastly improved performance, winning from the chestnut horse Sun Ray by a big margin of eight lengths.

Cleopatra and Arzoo completed the board among the 15 runners. Dream Act owned by Sohrab Khan was incidentally the best performer of the day. Available at 5 to 2, the filly trained by Amjad Ali II, was steered by the riding boy Majid Ali.

The day’s racing was highlighted by trainer Zia-ur-Rehman who saddled two winners. He first sent out Dimple in the opener and then capped his double sending out Rokrra in the third race. Dark bay colt Rokrra was on to a flying start and he completed the race in the same manner, sparing three-fourth of a length’s distance over Bagh-o-Bahar to pick up the spoils.

It was a day of mixed exchanges between punters and turf accountants when three favourites and a second favourite won in a card of seven races. All events were contested over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres.

Results:

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VI DIV IV 1,000M:

Dimple (Zia-ur-Rehman) 7-12, Naseer Ahmed 1; Mama Mia 8-10, Khalil Vicky 2; God’s Gift 8-6, Shakeel Mahmood 3; Black King 7-10, Ali Raza 4.

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

CHICHAWATNI PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 1,000M:

Leader’s Wing (Imtiaz Manzoor and Raees Ahmed) 8-8, Tariq Habib 1; Miss Mano 8-10, Majid Ali 2; Red Baron 8-8, Sajjad Hussain 3; Pure Power 8-8, Naseer Ahmed 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 2 L, Short-head. Time one minute 9 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Abbas.

CHICHAWATNI PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 1,000M:

Rokrra (Raja Sajid Abbasi) 8-10, Saqib 1; Bagh-o-Bahar 8-10, Sajjad Hussain 2; Silent Assasin 9-0, Anjum 3; Pretty 8-9, Naseer Ahmed 4.

Won by 3/4 L, 2 3/4 L, 3/4 L. Time one minute 9 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Zia-ur-Rehman.

CHICHAWATNI PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 1,000M:

Little Love (Mohammad Rafiq) 8-10, M. Akram 1; Shahbaz Love 8-2, Zameer 2; Lal Pari 7-10, Naseer Ahmed 3, Kiss Of Love 8-6, Majid Ali 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 7 L, 3 1/4 L. Time one minute 10 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VI DIV III 1,000M:

Pick Of The Day (K.A. Ahmed) 9-2, Faisal Tahir 1; Al Ain 8-0, M. Hanif 2; Lucky Coin 8-12, Imran Pervez 3; So Romantic 8-6, Khalil Vicky 4.

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

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 1,000M:

Dream Act (Sohrab Khan) 8-6, Majid Ali 1; Sun Ray 8-0, Shakeel Mahmood 2; Cleopatra 8-10, M. Wasim Khan 3; Arzoo 9-0, Ali Raza 4.

Won by 8 L, 1 1/4 L, 1 1/4 L. Time one minute 5 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali

II.KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 1,000M:

Aaja Bulbul (Khalid Malik) 9-2, Pervez Bhatti 1; Cheeta Aya 9-0, Tariq Habib 2; Honest Minister 9-0, S. Ammad 3; Brave Heart 8-10, Majid Ali 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 1 1/2 L, 1 1/4 L. Time one minute 7 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Azhar Ali.