July 25, 2008	Friday	Rajab 21, 1429

LAHORE, July 24: Fancied dark-bay filly Dream Memories rewarded her owner Sohrab Khan for the patience he had to see her triumphant after 31 starts when she registered her maiden victory at the day-night midweek gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday night.

In over a year-long victory drought, the filly from Double Classic out-of-National Pet, Dream Memories had at best placed second or third some times but not beyond that causing suspicion about her bloodline credentials.

Credit goes to the owner, who remained steadfast and kept on hoping against hope, she might win and that day dawned on Wednesday.

The winner ran like a totally different filly and after going wide in the straight and losing a lot of ground came back with aggressive strides to beat favourite Black King by four lengths. Cleopatra finished third with Basant Mayla fourth.

So uncertain was Dream Memories’ victory like her previous 31 starts that bookmakers kept on offering attractive odds of five to two and 40 to 100 for place among the 11 runners.

Talking to Dawn the excited Sohrab Khan said he was wondering about her performance and at last she has done it. This was the class VI division III handicap race contested over 1,000 metres. Ridden by the riding boy Naseer Ahmed, Dream Memories is trained by Amjad Ali II.

Four-year-old filly, Sweet Lady won laurels for the newly-inducted owner S.P. John with a start to finish victory in the feature and last race.

Steered by Naseer Ahmed, the Rashid Latif trained filly gave no anxious moments to connections, winning ahead of the field in a front-running style defeating Love Minister by a big margin of six lengths. Rana Choice and Naseeb Apna Apna completed the board among the nine runners.

Naseer was seen at his career best on Wednesday when he brought home three winners.

He began the afternoon on a triumphant note piloting Pure Power to a three-lengths’ victory. Then he sailed in Dream Memories in the fourth race and ended up with a fluent win on Sweet Lady in the sixth and last race.

He overshadowed the apprentice-riding boy M. Jamil, who had brought in a brace of winners partnering Fakhar-e-Hazara in the opener and Gypsy in the third race. His pushing of Gypsy was marvellous defeating on rushing Bagh-o-Bahar by a neck on the finishing post.

Riding boy Naseer now heads the riders statistics table with eight wins. He is being followed by champion jockey Shahid Rehman, Tariq Habib and apprentice M. Jamil — all have five wins to their credit.

Four-year-old bay colt Jang Ju proved the worth of his name when he fought like a warrior to defeat the aged gelding Murad The Great by three-fourths of a length to cause the biggest upset of the day in the fifth and supporting event.

This was a day of even exchanges between the turf accountants and the punters. In the opener, two to one Fakhar-e-Hazar won while favourite Come On finished third. Five to two Pure Power won defeating favourite Muskan by three lengths in the second race. The five to four favourite Gypsy won the third race.

Five to two Dream Memories beat favourite Black King in the fourth race. A rank outsider, Jang Ju won the fifth race beating long shot Murad The Great by three-fourths of a length. Five to four Sweet Lady beat Love Minister in the sixth and last race.

Results:

SUKKUR PLATE CLASS VII

DIV IV 900M:

Fakhar-e-Hazara (Munir Ahmed Awan) 8-8, M. Jamil 1; Lal Pari 7-10, Naseer Ahmed 2; Come On 7-8, Sajjad Hussain 3; Cash Box 9-0, M. Wasim 4.

Won by 5 L, Head, Neck. Time one minute 0 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nadeem Raza Khan.

SUKKUR PLATE CLASS VII

DIV II & III 900M:

Pure Power (Mohammad Saeed Butt) 8-0, Naseer Ahmed 1; Muskan 8-2, Fareed Ali 2; Waqas Prince 7-6, Sajjad Hussain 3; Saad Prince 9-2, Munir Hussain 4.

Won by 3 L, 7 L, Neck. Time one minute 1 seconds. Winner trained by S. Butt.

SUKKUR PLATE CLASS VII

DIV I & II 900M:

Gypsy (Shah Nawaz Qaiser) 7-10, M. Jamil 1; Bagh-o-Bahar 7-6, Munir Ahmed 2; Delux 7-6, Fareed Ali 3; Khan Baba 7-8, Bilal Ahmed 4.

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

BADEEN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III 1,000M:

Dream Memories (Sohrab Khan) 8-12, Naseer Ahmed 1; Black King 8-12, M. Zeeshan 2; Cleopatra 9-0, Majid Ali 3; Basant Mayla 8-8, A. Rahim 4.

Won by 4 L, 1 3/4 L, 4 L. Time one minute 7 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.

BADEEN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Jang Ju (Rana Mohammad Iqbal) 7-10, Pervez Bhatti 1; Murad The Great 8-6, M. Jamil 2; Little Smile 8-10, M. Atif 3; Fakhar-e-Sialkot 9-0, Fareed Ali 4.

Won by 3/4 L, 3 1/4 L, Distance. Time one minute 7 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Rafiq Khan.

BADEEN PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 1,000M:

Sweet Lady (S.P. John) 8-4, Naseer Ahmed 1; Love Minister 8-8, Shakeel Mahmood 2; Rana Choice 8-2, Pervez Bhatti 3; Naseeb Apna Apna 8-6, Majid Ali 4.

Won by 6 L, 1 1/4 L, 3 L. Time one minute 5 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.