April 17, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1429

LAHORE, April 16: Two favourite horses obliged the punters in a card of seven races during the midweek day/night Lahore Gymkhana Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.

The punters began the day on a disastrous note in a tightly-handicapped card, right from the first event when the heavily-backed Geo Bhakkar and Dream Land were beaten in a closely-contested race by the five to two chance horse Great Khan.

The joint-favourite bay gelding Shahbaz Love gave them some respite, winning the second race while the co-favourite Kiss Of Love ran off the frame.

Red Baron, a long shot chestnut colt, romped home an easy winner in the third race while the odds on favourite Mah-e-Noor surprisingly finished off the frame under the riding boy M. Hussain.

Another long shot, Great Rhythm, showed fine improvement bagging the fourth event, defeating Sun Shine by a length’s margin.

The odds on favourite Sher-e-Lahore finished fourth when yet another long shot, Murad King, sprinted to a short head win in the fifth race, edging out Dream Act by a short head.

Nine-year-old gelding Blue Fire came to the rescue of the losing punters when he won the sixth and feature event, ran over the 1,000 metres distance. He beat Gold Round, Ahsan The Great and divine Jury, in the same order. The concluding and seventh race was again won by a long shot chestnut colt, Changer, to complete the punters rout.

Riding boys A. Alam and M. Jamil excelled among the riders, each bringing home a brace of winners. Alam strode Shahbaz Love and Changer in the second and seventh race, while M. Jamil rode home Red Baron and Murad King in the third and fifth race, respectively.

Trainer Mohammad Siddique sent out two winners.

Results:

JHELUM PLATE CLASS VI DIV III 1,000M:

Great Khan (Wali Khan) 8-2 Shahnawaz 1, Dream Land 8-10 M. Atif 2, Geo Bhakkar 8-12 Tariq Habib 3 and Sun Ray 9-2 M. Nasir 4.

Won by 1 1/4 L, 3/4 L, 2 1/2 L. Time one minute 6 4/5 seconds.

Winner trained by the owner.

MURIDKEY PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 900M:

Shahbaz Love (Mohammad Iqbal) 9-0 A. Alam 1, Mere Lal 8-6 Sajjad Hussain 2, Pure Power 8-4 Ali Raza 3 and Pretty 7-8 Munir Ahmad 4.

Won by 1 L, 1 L, Neck. Time one minute 0 3/5 seconds.

Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

MURIDKEY PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 900M:

Red Baron (Shahbaz Ali Butt) 8-10 M. Jamil 1, Chocolate Boy 9-0 M. Waseem 2, Leader’s Wing 8-6 Khalil Vicky 3 and Miss Mano 9-2 A. Alam 4.

Won by 3 L, 3/4 L, 3/4 L. Time one minute 0 1/5 seconds.

Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

JHELUM PLATE CLASS VI DIV IV 1,000M:

Great Rhythm (Nadeem Raza Khan) 8-4 Pervaiz Bhatty 1, Sun Shine 9-2 A. Wahab 2, Hikmat 8-10 M. Jamil 3 and Sher-e-Lahore 9-0 Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by I L, Neck, 1 3/4 L. Time one minute 8 3/5 seconds.

Winner trained by the owner.

JHELUM PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 1,000M:

Murad King (Shahbaz Ali Butt) 8-7 M. Jamil 1, Dream Act 8-10 M. Atif 2, Jewna 8-8 Bilal Ahmad 3 and Faryal 8-4 M. Waseem 4.

Won by Short-head, 3 3/4 L, Short-head. Time one minute 4 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

JHELUM PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 1,000M:

Blue Fire (Naseer-ud-Din Siddiqui) 8-12 M. Zeeshan 1, Gold Round 8-2 Munir Ahmad 2, Ahsan The Great 8-10 Sikander Khan 3 and Divine Jury 8-6 Javed Iqbal 4.

Won by 2 3/4 L, 1/2 L, 1 1/2 L. Time one minute 4 seconds.

Winner trained by Mohammad Siddique.

MRIDKEY PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 900M:

Changer (Zia-ul-Haq) 8-4 A. Alam 1, Muskan 7-12 Shakeel Mahmood 2, Azeem Prince 9-0 M. Atif 3 and Biloo Love 7-10 M. Jehangir 4.

Won by 4 L, 2 L, 1 1/2 L. Time 58 seconds.

Winner trained by Mohammad Siddique.