July 05, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 1, 1429

LAHORE, July 4: Four-year-old chestnut filly Bubbly staged a stirring charge down the home stretch to register her second success in a row to become the day’s best performer during the day/night midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the floodlit Racecourse on Thursday.

The races scheduled for Wednesday initially had to be moved ahead by a day due to the postponement of Sunday’s races because of rains. Stalking the early pace setters Sohna Murad, Mere Lal and Polo Lounge before beginning her final run, Bubbly burst into the lead on the last turn to out sprint her 11 rivals.

She defeated Polo Lounge, who nosed out Sohna Murad to third place, by two and three quarters of a length. Mere Lal completed the board.

Under the circumstances, this was a rare victory for Bubbly. It had her connections panicked too when her odds eased from 30 to 100 to even amid rumours of her not being that good a sprinter.

Still the results of the race proved otherwise. Bubbly’s owner Shahzada Salman Jawad triumphantly led the filly to paddock after this third race of the day gone over the 800 metres distance.

Before the start of the race the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards replaced Parvaiz Bhatty, Polo Lounge’s rider with Imran Parvaiz and the move paid its owner, the former national hockey captain Munir Dar, rather well as the horse’s defeat spurred its owner into action. In order to avenge Polo Lounge’s defeat, Munir Dar sent out his filly Silent Assassin next, who succeeded in edging out the mare Pretty to win the race by a short margin. Sherni finished at a close third in the hard fought event enjoyed by the lovers of the sport.

In the last and main event, the chestnut mare Bird Fly, virtually flew home ahead of the 10-runners in the field to win from chestnut filly Sona by a neck. Taking a flying start, the apprentice riding boy Mazhar Ali kept Bird Fly far ahead of the field to gain a big lead that even the fast Sona failed to even, falling short by a neck’s margin. Little Smile finished third.

The LRC stewards were not satisfied with the handling of the mare Dogar Gift by jockey Javaid Iqbal in the fifth race and suspended him for three months. Dogar Gift finished fifth.

The stewards also barred six-year-old horse Sohna Billoo from taking part in the races for three months for violating LRC rules. The horse was withdrawn from the race by his owner without the stewards’ prior permission.

According to the rules, no horse once declared can be withdrawn without the stewards’ approval.

It was a disastrous day for owner/trainer Wali Khan, whose six-year-old mare Loayshay pulled up lame after a fall during the fifth race while his grey horse Great Khan was beaten to fourth place in the sixth and last race.

Meanwhile, the 200 per cent duty levied by the Punjab Government on LRC entry tickets seems to have taken a big toll on the crowds as many race fans kept away from the Racecourse on Thursday.

The duty has resulted in the increase of ticket price from Rs150 to 300. On Thursday 780 entry tickets could be sold as compared to the normal 1,100 per day before this.

Mixed exchanges were seen between the bookmakers and the punters when three well-backed horses won in a card of six events. Four races were contested over the 800 metres distance and two measuring up to 1,000 metres.

Results:

PHULARWAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV IV 800M:

Waqas Prince (Munir Ahmad Awan) 8-4 Majid Ali 1, Nasir Love 7-8 Zameer 2, Trigger Happy 7-10 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Morni 9-0 M. Atif 4.

Won by 2 L, 2 L, 2 L. Time 53 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nadeem Raza Khan.

PHULWARAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV III 800M:

Gypsy (Shah Nawaz Qaiser) 7-10 M. Jamil 1, Muskan 7-13 Munir Ahmad 2, Pure Power 8-8 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Kiss Of Love 8-1 Majid Ali 4.

Won by Neck, 1 L, 5 L. Time 52 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

PHULWARAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV I 800M:

Bubbly (Shahzada Salman Jawad) 8-8 Munir Ahmad 1, Polo Lounge 7-10 Parvaiz Bhatty 2, Sohna Murad 7-10 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Mere Lal 8-0 Alam Sher 4.

Won by 2 3/4 L, Head, 1 3/4 L. Time 52 seconds. Winner trained by I. Nawab.

PHULARWAN PLATE CLASS VII

DIV II 800M:

Silent Assassin (Munir Ahmed Dar) 8-0 Alam Sher 1, Pretty 8-8 Munir Ahmad 2, Sherni 9-0 Majid Ali 3 and Luka Toni 9-0 M. Atif 4.

Won by Neck, 1/2 L, 2 3/4 L. Time 53 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mian Javaid.

SHAH KOT PLATE CLASS VI

DIV IV 1,000M:

Little Love (Choudhry Mohammad Rafiq) 8-10 Tariq Habib 1, Mera Chan 8-10 Naseer Ahmad 2, Romaneila 7-10 Fareed Ali 3 and Yard Arm 7-10 Zameer 4.

Won by 6 1/4 L, 7 1/2 L, 3 1/4 L. Time one minute 6 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

SHAH PUR PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Bird Fly (Mohammad Rafiq Khan) 8-4 Mazhar Ali 1, Sona 8-0 Majid Ali 2, Little Smile 9-0 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Great Khan 8-4 Saqib 4.

Won by Neck, 4 1/4 L, Distance. Tme one minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.