May 30, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

LAHORE, May 29: Bay mare Faryal salvaged the pedigree horses’ pride by winning the feature event during the day/night midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the racecourse on Wednesday night.

A progeny of Lucky Concept out-of-Ainy, Faryal stole the limelight on a day dominated by unknown pedigree galore, who won four out of the six events drawn for the evening.

She beat unknown horse Naseeb Apna Apna by one-and-a-half lengths. Al Ain and Regulation completed the frame among a dozen runners.

Jockey M. Hanif, who had been pardoned after his suspension period was slashed by nearly half for not riding out Lahore race Club (LRC) steward owned Noor-un-Nisa, rode Al Ain on Wednesday. He finished third.

Punters and bookmakers shared the day’s proceedings evenly when three well-backed horses won while the remaining three were lifted by long shots.

The rank outsider bay mare Bird Fly flew far ahead of the field in the opener to beat long chaser Red Baron by a short margin of neck at the finishing line. Bird Fly was totally neglected in the betting ring.

In the third race, chestnut Sohna came from far behind to challenge the front-runner Shahbaz Love to beat him convincingly by a big margin of eight lengths. Black King finished third, half-a-length further back in a field of nine runners.

Dark-bay colt Best Owner outclassed his rivals to win the fourth race. Ridden by Shakeel Mahmood, Best Owner, proved best in a 17-strong field. He beat Bagh-0-Bahar by five lengths. Mere Lal finished third another length behind while Non Stop completed the board.

The change of name on a colt from Rokrra to Cash Price brought a change of luck for the owner Ata Mohammad Khan when the colt warded off the challenge of Silent Assassin, owned by Munir Dar by a three-fourth of a length. Well-backed Khan Baba went slightly wide in the straight to finish third, a length further behind, after nosing out Leader’s Wing to fourth position. This was a very closely contested race in which five horses finished within a distance of two lengths, a sight seldom seen at the Racecourse.

Unknown grey mare Basant Mayla was lucky to beat Sohna Murad by a neck in the sixth and last race. A powerful finish by the riding boy Tariq Habib saw the mare through to the winner’s enclosure, who beat on paper a better horse, Sohna Murad, whose rider M. Jamil lost the race by sheer negligence. Nearly 100 yards away from the winning post, Sohna Murad looked a probable winner but a whirlwind like finish by Tariq Habib put Basant Mayla in front.

Results:

CHUNIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV IV 1,000M:

Bird Fly (Mohammad Rafiq Khan) 8-2, Mazhar Ali 1; Red Baron 8-0, M. Jamil 2; Mah-e-Noor 8-8, Saqib 3; Pumey De Jan 7-12, A. Alam 4.

Won by Neck, 1 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time one minute 7 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

CHUNIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Faryal ( Khalid Pervez) 7-12, M. Wasim 1; Naseeb Apna Apna 8-4, Anjum 2; Al Ain 8-6, M. Hanif 3; Regulation 7-12, Naseer Ahmed 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 4 1/2 L, 1 1/4 L. Time one minute 5 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

CHUNIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III 1,000M:

Sona (Zia-ur-Rehman) 8-2, Sajjad Hussain 1; Shahbaz Love 8-0, M. Jahangir 2; Black King 8-0, M. Zeeshan 3; High Quality 9-0, Tariq Habib 4.

Won by 8 L, 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time one minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

GUJRAT PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 900M:

Best Owner (Saeed Ahmed) 8-11, Shakeel Mahmood 1; Bagh-o-Bahar 7-12, Munir Ahmed 2; Mere Lal 8-6, M. Jamil 3; Non Stop 9-0, Majid Ali 4.

Won by 5 L, 1 L, 5 L. Time 59 seconds. Winner trained by Zia-ur-Rehman.

GUJRAT PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 900M:

Cash Price (Ata Mohammad Khan] 8-5, A. Alam 1; Silent Assassin 8-4, M. Jahangir 2; Khan Baba 9-0, M. Akram 3; Leader’s Wing 9-0, M. Jamil 4.

Won by 3/4 L, 1 L, Neck. Time 59 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Abbas.

GUJRAT PLATE CLASS VII

DIV III 900M:

Basant Mayla 9-0, Tariq Habib 1; Sohna Murad 8-0, M. Jamil 2; Ranjha 8-10, Shahnawaz 3; Sohni Bulbul 7-8, M. Wasim 4.

Won by Neck, 2 L, 6 L. Time 58 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Chaudhry Khurram Hussain.