March 17, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1429

LAHORE, March 16: Fancied English filly Day Dream Dancer lived up to her star billing by landing the Eclipse Stakes Of Pakistan, run over a 2,000 metres distance during the 29th Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.

Races were held in tight security since law enforcing agencies in Lahore are on a high alert following the suicide bombing attacks in the city.

Rickshaws, two wheelers and wagons were barred from entering the Lahore Race Club (LRC) premises to be diverted to Faiz Ahmad Faiz road along the Green Town railway track for parking, which is quite a distance from the club.

Private vehicles were allowed entry after thorough checking by the staff on duty at the club’s main entrance. But racegoers attended races in large numbers despite all this.

Day Dream Dancer, whose previous run in the Lahore Classic Cup had seen her finishing third, put up a spirited performance challenging the front-runners inside the final 300 metres under jockey Shahid Rehman to beat bay English filly Interiotte by a length at the finishing line. The bay English mare Alina Alisha finished third, another six lengths behind, with bay English mare Snow Clad completing the frame. This made the event an all-English thoroughbred affair. The winner clocked two minutes 6 4/5 seconds in the over 2,000 metres distance.

The Pakistan Derby winner Brave Act buckled under pressure of the pace set up by the English thoroughbreds and stumbled in the straight chase bringing down her rider M. Zeeshan. This was followed by the Pakistan-bred filly’s running rider-less. But the one who suffered the most was her owner Sohrab Khan.

This was the fifth race in the racing order.

A race later, three-year-old filly Valenday easily won the Pepsi Cup run over a distance of 1,400 metres. The gelding Zanjeer finished second while Harry Can View and Lucky Winner completed the board among the seven runners.

The third race turned out to be a closely contested one between Malik Ghulam Qadir’s colt Grue and Munir Dar’s filly Janu, who fought stride to stride for supremacy. In a ding dong tussle, Grue finally won by a length’s margin amidst thunderous applause from the racing public.

The day’s racing honours were shared equally by jockeys M. Hanif and Shahid Rehman and trainer Sohail Aziz, who registered a double each. Hanif partnered Grue and Rag To Riches in the third and fourth race while Shahid Rehman rode Day Dream Dancer and Valenday in the fifth and sixth event. Trainer Sohail Aziz saddled Rags To Riches and Day Dream Dancer, both owned by Syed Tasweer Hussain.

Three-year-old bay filly Can Can Girl, owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon, caused the biggest upset of the day in the seventh and last race. Ridden by the riding boy Tariq Habib, the four-to-one chance filly was trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

Results:

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 900M:

Zoaq (Chaudhry Tahir Mahmood) 8-10, M. Wasim Khan 1; Big Choice 8-4, M. Zeeshan 2; Umer Prince 8-6, Allah Yar 3; Honest Minister 9-0, Aamir Pervez 4.

Won by 4 1/2 L, Neck, 5 1/2 L. Time 56 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Abbas.

SIBBI PLATE CLASS V DIV III 1,100M:

Alishba ( Liaquat Ali) 9-0, Faisal Tahir 1; Sabbat Qadam 8-4, Khalil Vicky 2; Melody Queen 8-8, M. Wasim Khan 3;Babbu The Great 7-12, Pervez Bhatti 4.

Won by 7 L, Short-head, 3 L. Time one minute 11 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

SIBBI PLATE CLASS V DIV I 1,100M:

Grue (Malik Ghulam Qadir) 8-8, M. Hanif 1; Janu 9-0, Shahid Rehman 2; Byron 8-6, M. Zeeshan 3; Houstan 9-0, Aamir Pervez 4.

Won by 1 L, 2 3/4 L, 3 3/4 L. Time one minute 8 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Abid Mahmood.

PEPSI PLATE CLASS IV DIV II & III 1,400M:

Rags To Riches (Syed Tasweer Hussain) 8-8, M. Hanif 1; Spiritual Song 8-6, Shakeel Mahmood 2; Lucky Cat 8-2, Sajjad Hussain 3; Hallow Handsome 8-12, Salahuddin 4.

Won by 7 L, 1 1/2 L, 6 L. Time one minute 27 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

MOUNTAIN DEW ECLIPSE STAKES OF

PAKISTAN CLASS III AND UPWARDS 2,000M:

Day Dream Dancer (Syed Tasweer Hussain) 9-0, Shahid Rehman 1; Interiotte 8-1, M. Wasim Khan 2; Alina Alishah 8-8, Aamir Pervez 3; Snow Clad 8-1, M. Hanif 4.

Won by 1 L, 6 L, Distance. Time two minutes 6 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

PEPSI CUP CLASS IV DIV I & II 1,400M:

Valenday (Rana Mohammad Akhtar) 8-8. Shahid Rehman 1; Zanjeer 9-0. A. Imran 2; Harry Can View 7-10. A. Alam 3; Lucky Winner 9-0. Majid Ali 4.

Won by 6 L, 2 1/2 L, 2 1/4 L. Time one minute28 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. R. Khan.

SIBBI PLATE CLASS V DIV I & II 1,100M:

Can Can Girl (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 8-12, Tariq Gabib 1; Tuba First 8-10, M. Atif 2; Koshalia 9-0, Shahid Rehman 3; Munsaf 9-0, Faisal Tahir 4.

Won by 1 3/4 L, 1 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time one minute 9 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.