June 13, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1429

LAHORE, June 12: Taking a slow start, the fancied chestnut filly Bubbly came from behind, stride by stride, to snatch victory from Sohna Murad in a thrilling finish during the day/night midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday evening.

Three of the races in a card of six events were held in daylight while the remaining three in floodlights. All events were contested over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres.

Since the weather was muggy, following an afternoon of scattered rains in parts of the provincial metropolis with the racecourse area being dry, the number of equine sports fans was comparatively less than the average attendance.

But those braving the humid weather also got the opportunity of watching international racing being telecast live from England and South Africa, which was arranged by the Lahore Race Club (LRC) along with its own events. The feast of thoroughbred racing was greatly enjoyed by the race-goers.

Looking trim and fine, Bubbly owned by Shahzada Salman Jawad, picked up pace while chasing the front-running dark bay horse Sohna Murad. She managed to beat him near the distance post to be home by half-a-length with Silent Assassin finishing another length behind at third.

Bubbly backed as a 25 to 100 favourite and trained by I. Nawab was ridden by the riding boy Naseer Ahmad in the third race of the day.

Meanwhile, the feature event was landed with great ease in a splendid front-running style by five-year-old bay horse Naseeb Apna Apna. Ridden by jockey Aamir Pervez, he sprinted home to beat Victory King by over six lengths. Trained by Abdul Rasheed, Naseeb Apna Apna was backed as an 80 to 100 favourite. Batista and Sona completed the frame among the eight starters.

Red roan filly Snow Fall successfully made it a two-in-a-row when the filly ran away from the field in the supporting and fifth race. She beat Red Baron by five lengths. Best Owner came third while Pumey De Jan pulled up lame and finished fourth among the nine runners.

Munir Dar’s Polo Lounge proved too good among the trio fielded by him in the second race. The six-year-old bay mare was heavily backed from four to one down to even in the betting ring. She beat Pure Power with Golden Tree and Boom Boom completing the frame.

Riding boy Naseer Ahmad worked up a good double piloting home Bubbly and Cash Price in the third and fourth race, respectively.

Four favourites, namely, Polo Lounge, Bubbly, Snow Fall and Naseeb Apna Apna, obliged the punters in a card of six events. Dark bay mare Gypsy ridden by M. Jamil, who won the opener, was totally neglected by the punters. She beat the odds on favourite Anarkali.

The dark bay colt Cash Price caused another upset in the fourth race by beating the 30 to 100 favourite horse Khan Baba, who failed to live up to the expectations of race goers. The kitty amount of the Super Jack Pot, which has swelled to Rs90,000 due to its remaining unsolved will be brought forward again and added in Sunday’s Lahore Summer Meeting (SPJ) races after which it is likely to exceed the Rs1,00,000 mark.

Results:

PAK PATTAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV IV 1,000M:

Gypsy (Shah Nawaz Qaiser) 8-0 M. Jamil 1, Anarkali 9-0 M. Atif 2, Kundan 8-2 Khalid 3 and Nasir Love 8-0 Mazhar Ali 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 1 1/4 L, 5 L. Time one minute 8 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

PAK PATTAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV III 1,000M:

Polo Lounge (Munir Ahmad Dar) 8-6 Imran Parvaiz 1, Pure Power 8-6 Sajjad Hussain 2, Golden Tree 9-0 Fareed Ali 3 and Boom Boom 9-0 M. Atif 4.

Won by 4 1/2 L, 5 L, 3/4 L. Time one minute 7 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Manzoor Ahmad.

PAK PATTAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV II 1,000M:

Bubbly (Shahzada Salman Jawad) 8-12 Naseer Ahmad 1, Sohna Murad 7-12 Sajjad Hussain 2, Silent Assassin 8-2 Alam Sher 3 and Shandar 8-10 Tariq Habib 4.

Won by 1/2 L, 1 L, 9 L. Time one minute 6 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by I. Nawab.

PAK PATTAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV I 1,000M:

Cash Price (Atta Mohammad Khan) 8-2 Naseer Ahmad 1, Khan Baba 7-4 Sajjad Hussain 2, Bagh-o-Bahar 7-12 Munir Ahmad 3 and Basant Mayla 8-0 Alam Sher 4.

Won by 1 1/2 L, 4 L, Distance. Time one minute 6 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Abbas.

MURIDKE PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III & IV 1,000M:

Snow Fall (Mian Mohammad Ashraf) 8-4 M. Zeeshan 1, Red Baron 8-4 Naseer Ahmad 2, Best Owner 8-10 Pervaiz Bhatty 3 and Pumey De Jan 7-8 Sajjad Hussain 4.

Won by 5 L, 3 L, 3 L. Time one minute 3 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

MURIDKE PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Naseeb Apna Apna (Raja Rehmat Ullah Khan Niazi) 8-7 Aamir Pervez 1, Victory King 8-12 Sajjad Hussain 2, Batista 8-10 Atif Javaid 3 and Sona 8-2 Shah Nawaz 4.

Won by 6 1/2 L, Distance, 2 L. Time one minute 3 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Abdul Rasheed.