May 16, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1429

LAHORE, May 15: An accident paved the way to victory for Victory King in the supporting event run over the 1,100 metres distance during the midweek day/night Lahore Gymkhana races at the floodlit Racecourse on Wednesday evening.

As the race began, the odds on favourite mare Laina Again led the field by at least five lengths from the rest of the pack. But she stumbled and fell upon entering the straight chase, bringing down her jockey Abdur Rahim, who fell unconscious and had to be rushed to the Lahore General Hospital.

That was when Victory King burst through to the front to win from the mare Faryal by seven lengths. Sona finished third, another four lengths behind, while Great Khan put up a dismal show and completed the frame.

Earlier bay horse Sir Ivanhoe was withdrawn from the race, leaving 13 runners in the field. This was the fifth race of the day.

A race later, the 60 to 100 favourite chestnut colt Tyson, displayed all the qualities of a good fighter to bag the feature event contested over the 1,100 metres distance. From an outside draw the riding boy Sajjad Hussain kept his mount with the leaders only to galvanize him into action in the home stretch to win the last race of the day.

Tyson beat Jewna by two lengths, Love Minister and Ahsan The Great completed the frame.

The riding boy Sajjad Hussain, nicknamed ‘Sajju’, highlighted the day with a fine double when he sailed in Pattola in the first race and then Tyson in the last.

Red-roan filly Snow Fall was the most impressive runner in Wednesday’s races. Ridden by M. Jahangir, the odds on filly beat Best Owner by eight lengths, promising a bright career ahead. The filly is owned by Mian Mohammad Ashraf and trained by Rashid Latif.

Punters and bookmakers shared the day’s proceedings evenly when three favourites won in a card of six events. The favourites to win were: Mera Chan (5 to 4), Snow Fall (40 to 100) and Tyson (60 to 100), in the second, third and sixth race, respectively. The first, third and fourth event were bagged by neglected horses.

The Lahore Race Club (LRC), which joined the ranks of horse owners with the induction of 10 unknown pedigreed horses, had moments to be proud of when its own dark bay gelding stormed home in the first event to win by over four lengths from Bioactive. LRC is perhaps the only race club in the racing world that owns race horses.

Long shot bay gelding Black King outclassed his eight rivals to win the fourth race run over the 1,100 metres distance. In a closely contested event, Black King came rushing from behind to beat another gelding Yard Arm by over one length at the finishing post. Chocolate Boy finished third, another one-and-a-half lengths back. Jockey M. Zeeshan rode the winner trained by A. Altaf.

Results:

SUTLUJ PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 900M:

Pattola (Lahore Race Club) 7-8, Sajjad Hussain 1; Bioactive 9-0, Sajjad Hussain 2; Bagh-o-Bahar 9-0, Munir Ahmed 3; Sohna Murad 8-2, Jamil Ahmed 4.

Won by 4 1/2 L, 3/4 L, Short-head. Time one minute 1 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Qaiser.

SUTLUJ PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 900M:

Mera Chan (Chaudhry Qamar Iqbal) 8-8, Tariq Habib 1; Rokrra 8-2, A. Alam 2; Pretty 7-10, M. Jahangir 3; Basant Mayla 8-10, Pervez Bhatti 4.

Won by 3 1/2 L, 6 L, 3/4 L. Time one minute 0 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Chaudhry Mohammad Rafiq.

SUTLUJ PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 900M:

Snow Fall (Mian Mohammad Ashraf) 8-6, M. Jahangir 1; Best Owner 8-6, Saqib 2; Porsche 7-10, Sajjad Hussain 3; Shandar 8-4, Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 8 L, 1 1/2 L, 2 1/4 L. Time 59 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

MASTUNG PLATE CLASS VI

DIV IV 900M:

Black King (S. Iftikhar Ali) 7-8, M. Zeeshan 1; Yard Arm 7-10, M. Wasim 2; Chocolate Boy 7-12, A. Alam 3; Mah-e-Noor 8-10, M. Hussain 4. Won by 1 1/4 L, 1 1/2 L, 6 L. Time one minute 12 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by A. Altaf.

MASTUNG PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II & III 1,100M: Victory King (Chaudhry Sagheer Hussain) 8-2, M. Jamil 1; Faryal 8-2, Sajjad Hussain 2; Sona 7-10, A. Alam 3; Great Khan 8-8, Shahnawaz 4. Won by 7 L, 4 L, 6 L. Time one minute 11 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Sarfraz.

MASTUNG PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I 1,100M:

Tyson (M.S. Butt) 8-12, Sajjad Hussain 1; Jewna 8-2, A. Alam 2; Love Minister 8-12, S. Ammad 3; Ahsan The Great 8-12, M. Akram 4. Won by 2 L, 3 L, 4 L. Time one minute 11 seconds. Winner trained by S. Butt.