April 28, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1429

LAHORE, April 27: Three-year-old bay filly Tuba First underlined her sprinting prowess when she blazed her way to win the feature event run over the 1,200 metres distance, marking the end of the Lahore winter meetings on a triumphant note at the Racecourse on Sunday.

This was the last edition of the 35 Lahore winter meetings, which started in September last year.

The filly, ridden by jockey Shahid Rehman for owner Raja Khushbakht-ur-Rehman and trainer Haji Abid Mehmood, burst into the front 100 metres from home and then cruised to over a length’s victory from Dubai Fan. Lucky Cat finished third, another eight lengths behind, while Dillagi completed the frame in this fifth race of the day.

Only six competitors lined up for the Class V, division I event after the last-minute withdrawal of two fillies — Janu and Jo Jo Gift — from the race. This was Tuba First’s second consecutive win for both its owner and trainer.

A race later, three-year-old bay filly Pick Of The Day won the supporting and last race of the day run over 1,200 metres. My Delilah, Gulf Line and Blue Fire completed the board in the same order.Trained by Haji Fazal Hadi, Pick Of The Day, ridden brilliantly by Shahid Rehman completed the race ahead of the field unchallenged when running at her own pace, she took an early lead.

Leading jockey Shahid Rehman and Amir Pervez ended the winter meetings in a blaze of glory, each riding home a brace of winners.

Shahid partnered Tuba First and Pick Of The Day in the fifth and sixth race, respectively, while Amir brought in Future Perfect in the second race and Big Power in the third.

The Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards have suspended riding boy M. Atif from riding in the races for two weeks while imposing a Rs10,000 fine on him for his unprofessional handling of Future Perfect on April 16 when the bay colt ran off the frame. On Sunday he ran like a champion, finishing three lengths ahead of the favourite chestnut colt Blitz in the second race.

The controversial filly Noor-un-Nisa, who was declared to run in the same race was withdrawn from contest shortly before the start of the first race.

The Super Jack Pot (SJP), which was accumulated to a big amount of Rs1,72,000 was solved by six lucky punters and the amount divided equally among them. SJP has provided punters with a chance of striking it rich by picking the correct winners in all the six SPJ races. The LRC itself contributed Rs1,00,000 from its funds from the very first day, two weeks ago.

By any standards the filly Tuba First, was the best performer in the day’s races. Her victory brought up the 15th win on the trainers statistics table for young Haji Abid Mahmood, who joined the ranks of trainers only last year and has proved his mettle in a short span of time.

By virtue of his good record, he is becoming the third most sought after trainer after Sohail Aziz and Haji Fazal Hadi.

Results:

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 800M:

Lighting Muqeem (Choudhry Mohammad Asghar) 8-6, Khalil Vicky 1; Rang De Basanti 9-0, M. Jahangir 2; Love Minister 8-12, Tariq Habib 3; Divine Jury 9-2, Javed Iqbal 4.

Won by 2 ½ L, 1 L, 3 ¾ L. Time 51 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI DIV I-B 800M:

Future Perfect (Sohrab Khan) 9-0, Aamir Pervez 1; Blitz 9-0, M. Hussain 2; Big Choice 8-8, Abdur Rahim 3; Aaja Bulbul 9-0, A. Wahab 4.

Won by 3 L, 8 ½ L, 8 ½ L. Time 50 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 800M:

Big Power (Shahid Mahmood) 9-2, Aamir Pervez 1; Striker 8-8, Anjum 2; Tyson 8-2, Ali Raza 3; Dream Act 8-12, M. Atif 4.

Won by 6 ¾ L, 1 L, 4 L. Time 49 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Aleemuddin.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI DIV III & IV 800M:

Hikmat (Arif Gulzar) 8-8, Atif Javed 1; Sona 8-0, Shahnawaz 2; Victory King 8-0, Pervez Bhatti 3; Royal Palace 8-2, Munir Hussain 4.

Won by 1 ¼ L, 2 ½ L, Distance. Time 51 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Naseeb.

CHAKWAL PLATE CLASS V DIV I 1,200M:

Tuba First (Raja Khushbakht-ur-Rehman) 8-6, Shahid Rehman 1; Dubai Fan 8-2, Khalil Vicky 2; Lucky Cat 9-0, Tariq Habib 3; Dillagi 8-2, Pervez Bhatti 4.

Won by 1 ¼ L, 8 L, 6 ½ L. Time one minute 14 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Abid Mehmood.

CHAKWAL PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1,200M:

Pick Of The Day (K.A. Ahmed) 8-8, Shahid Rehman 1; My Delilah 8-6, M. Wasim 2; Gulf Line 9-0, Shakeel Mahmood 3; Blue Fire 8-10, M. Zeeshan 4.

Won by 6 ½ L, Neck, 8 L. Time one minute 17 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.