April 10, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 3, 1429

LAHORE, April 9: Fancied five-year-old chestnut colt Al Ain lived up to everyone’s expectations by winning the feature event, contested in the over 1,100 metres distance during the day/night midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

Battling for supremacy with the bay filly Lighting Muqeem, Al Ain finally succeeded in edging her out by a neck at the finishing line. Murad King was nosed out to third position with Faryal completing the frame.

It was Al Ain’s second consecutive victory within three weeks. Trained by Haji Abid Mehmood and owned by Ali Mohammad Al Shamsi, Al Ain was piloted by jockey M. Hanif in this fourth race of the day.

A race later, the chestnut mare First Passion stormed home in the final stretch to win the supporting event. She beat Geo Bhakkar by two lengths. Dream Land finished third, another three lengths behind, while Sun Shine completed the frame.

In a card of six events, two favourites, Al Ain (50 to 100) and Mama Mia (20 to 100), obliged the punters in the fourth and fifth race, respectively. The other events were all bagged by long shots.

In the third race, Munir Dar’s bay gelding Smiling Assassin gave the former national hockey captain his first win after a long time. But he should be grateful to the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards, who at the last moment substituted his rider Anjum with Tariq Habib.

The change of riders saw the gelding registering a comfortable win over Muskan by about four length’s margin. Trigger Happy and Billoo Love completed the frame. Smiling Assassin who opened as a five to four favourite saw his odds ease to four to one.

Meanwhile LRC’s making the races into a day/night feature failed to attract a sizable crowd to the races. The attendance was way below its usual number. Noticing this, the stewards have announced that Sunday’s Lahore Meeting will be held at the usual 1:00pm.

Results:

LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 1,000M:

Geo Super (Mohammad Khawaja Asif Hassan) 8-10 Munir Ahmad 1, Mah-e-Noor 8-0 M. Hussain 2, Red Baron 8-12 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Leader’s Wing 8-10 Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 3 L, 5 L, 4 L. Time one minute 7 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tauqeer Ahmad.

LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 1,000M:

Chocolate Boy (Anis Butt) 9-0 M. Waseem 1, Kiss Of Love 9-0 Shakeel Mahmood 2, Mere Lal 8-6 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Better Time 9-0 S. Ammad 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 1 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time one minute 9 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Aamir Azad.

LODHRAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 1,000M:

Smiling Assasin (Munir Ahmed Dar) 9-0 Tariq Habib 1, Muskan 7-10 Majid Ali 2, Trigger Happy 7-10 Bilal Ahmad 3 and Billoo Love 7-12 M. Waseem 4.

Won by 3 3/4 L, 3/4 L, 1 1/4 L. Time one minute 10 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Manzoor Ahmad.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV 1,100M:

Al Ain (Ali Mohammad Al Shamsi) 8-2 M. Hanif 1, Lighting Muqeem 8-2 Majid Ali 2, Murad King 8-12 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Faryal 8-10 M. Waseem.

Won by Neck, Head, 6 1/2 L. Time one minute 14 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Abid Mehmood.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV III 1,100M:

First Passion (Ali Zulqarnain Kharl) 9-0 A. Alam 1, Geo Bhakkar 8-12 Tariq Habib 2, Dream Land 8-12 M. Atif 3 and Sun Shine 8-6 Majid Ali 4.

Won by 2 L, 3 L, Distance. Time one minute 11 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Qaiser.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV IV 1,100M:

Mama Mia (Syed Parvez Hussain Shah) 8-8 Khalil Vicky 1, Dimple 8-2 Naseer Ahmad 2, Great Rhythm 8-4 Munir Hussain 3 and Hikmat 9-0 M. Jamil 4.

Won by Neck, 3 L, Distance. Time one minute 12 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.