June 20, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 15, 1429

LAHORE, June 19: Fancied bay horse Baray Lal outclassed his opponents to secure second straight career win during the day/night midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday night.

Owned by Aamir Raza Khan and trained by Haji Abid Mahmood, Baray Lal beat bay mare, Polo Lounge by a big margin of 10 lengths, leaving the race-fans spell bound at such a fantastic performance.

Porsche and Mere Lal finished third and fourth, respectively among 14 runners in the second race of the evening. Baray Lal clocked 58 1/5 second over the sprinting distance of 900 metres. This was the fourth race of the six-event card gone through in the day/night programme in sultry weather.

Later the odds-on favourite bay horse Love Minister had the better of his nine rivals in the feature and the last event. The Mian Mohammad Ashraf-owned Love Minister, ridden by riding boy by Shakeel Mahmood, beat Jewna by about two lengths, who nosed out Victory King at the finishing line when Hidayat Hussain, the rider of Jewna put his mount’s nasal in front in a flash. Ro Romantic edged on the frame among 10 contestants.

The Landhi Plate was a class VI division II handicap race over 900 metres.

Rank outsider chestnut mare, Rana Choice galloped to a two-length surprise victory in the supporting and fifth race. She gave her owner Rana Mohammad Akhtar a long awaited win. The owner got reward of his patience after 21 unsuccessful outings during the season. Rana Choice beat favourite Red Baron by about two lengths.

Grey mare Basant Mayla sprang a surprise when she beat Silent Assassin by about two lengths in the third race. Sohna Murad and Bioactive completed the frame. A dozen ran for the event in which Silent Assassin and Sohna Murad were backed by the connections.

Bay gelding Golden Tree another long shot beat totally neglected Gypsy to win the second race. Favourite gelding, Pure Power, finished third with Cash Box fourth.

Grey mare Basant Mayla was another outsider to win in the third race, who beat both the struggling favourites, Silent Assassin and Sohna Murad, in the same order. Bioactive completed the frame among eleven runners in the third race.

Baray Lal and Love Minister were the only favourites to oblige their backers. The other four events were won by long shots. All races were contested over 900 metres.

Midway through the proceedings, the race-goers observed a minute’s silence to pay respect to the Lahore Race Club (LRC) former chairman, Syed Wajid Ali Shah, who died recently.

Results:

KOTLI PLATE CLASS VII DIV III-B 900M:

Alpha Juliet (Kashif Saeed Butt) 7-4, Naseer Ahmed 1; Muskan 8-13, Majid Ali 2; Sana 8-13, M. Akram 3; Sohail 7-12, Fareed Ali 4.

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

KOTLI PLATE CLASS VII DIV III-A 900M:

Golden Tree (Aleemuddin) 9-0, Fareed Ali 1; Gypsy

8-0, M. Jamil 2; Pure Power 8-8, Sajjad Hussain 3; Cash Box 8-10, M. Atif 4.

Won by 3 1/2 L, 1 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time 59 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

KOTLI PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 900M:

Basant Mayla (Iftikhar-uz-Zaman) 9-0, Tariq Habib 1; Silent Assassin 8-2, Alam Sher 2; Sohna Murad 8-1, Sajjad Hussain 3; Bioactive 8-1 Naseer Ahmed 4.

Won by 1 3/4 L, 3/4 L, 1 1/2 L. Time 59 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Chaudhry Khurram Hussain.

KOTLI PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 900M:

Baray Lal (Aamir Raza Khan) 8-10, Majid Ali 1; Polo Lounge 7-6, Alam Sher 2; Porsche 7-10, Naseer Ahmed 3; Mere Lal 8-6, M. Jamil 4.

Won by Distance, 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time 58 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Abid Mahmood.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI DIV III & IV 900M:

Rana Choice (Rana Mohammad Akhtar), 8-2 Pervez Bhatti 1; Red Baron 8-2, Naseer Ahmed 2; Bird Fly 8-4, Mazhar Ali 3; Hikmat 9-0, Atif Javed 4.

Won by 1 3/4 L, 2 L, Distance. Time 58 4/5 second. Winner trained by Mohammad Rafiq Khan.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 900M:

Love Minister (Mian Mohammad Ashraf) 9-0, Shakeel Mahmood 1; Jewna 8-10, Hidayat Hussain 2; Victory King 9-0, Sajjad Hussain 3. So Romantic 8-10, Alam Sher 4.

Won by 1 3/4 L, Short-head, 3 L. Time 58 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.