KARACHI, Nov 23: Five-year-old chestnut Gold Krik delighted a strong holiday crowd when he powered his way to post half-a-length’s victory to land The Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara Double Birthday Cup in an action-packed race of the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

The Derby winning horse was smartly ridden home by Lahore’s recipient of Pride of Performance jockey Shahid Rehman.

Owned by Chaudhry Mohsin Ali Asghar and trained by Chaudhry Iftikhar, Gold Krik in a late burst edged front runner filly The Victorious for the prestigious crown. He clocked One minute 56 1/5 seconds for the nine furlongs race.

Filly Taiz Per settled for third, 11 lengths behind, while filly Claim To Fame completed the board finishing further 10 ¾ lengths away.

A veteran of four Derby and 2000 Guineas winning horses apiece, Shahid Rehman, 33, made a steady start and remained on the heels of the front runner.

After negotiating the bend and getting into the straight chase for home, he dashed while approaching the finishing post and overtook The Victorious amidst thunderous applause.

Winner of Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup at the same venue last year, Rehman, got a standing ovation from the spectators as he entered the paddock after the race.

Earlier, two-year-old bay filly Royal Salute, formerly Blue Water, pulled off an upset when she landed The Neario Stakes beating filly After Shock by neck in a closely fought battle. 3 Knot 3 seized third place.

Joint favourite Lil Kimm finished off the board while Magnificent Baby completed the frame.

Renowned owner Pir Pagara meanwhile, celebrated his 80th birthday when jockey Essa presented him with a treble.

He galloped three-year-old favourite colt Giranari to his maiden victory beating bay Lucky Gem by six lengths in the third race.

He completed a back-to-back double when he steered public fancy four-year-old filly Sugar Sweet to her fourth successive win in the next by getting the better of Moon Dazzler by nine lengths.

The former champion jockey rounded off his eventful day through three-year-old chestnut colt Sayeen Jee after imposing 11 lengths victory in the concluding race.

Earlier, he opened the day on a successful note when mare Silent Love registered a facile six lengths victory over mare Rangilee in the opener.

Jockey Nasir piloted home a brace through favourites Cash Deposit in the sixth and Black Velvet in the eighth race.

Nine-year-old bay Silver City with Waheed in the saddle toppled favourite colt Spider Man by two-and-a-half lengths to claim the second race.

Results:

THE ALLY PLATE DIV V CLASS VII 5F:

Silent Love (Nasrullah) 8-12, Mohammad Essa 1; Rangilee 8-12, Shahid Mannan 2; Full ‘N’ Final 9-0 (cr8-7), Tauheed Ali 3; Gul-e-Lala 7-10 (cr7-12), Irfan Shawani 4.

Won by 6L, 2L, 3/4L. Time: One minute 7 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE ALLY PLATE DIV IV CLASS VII 5F:

Silver City (Syed Ali Gohar Shah) 8-10 (cr8-7), Waheed 1; Spider Man 8-9 (cr8-2), Rehan Ahmed 2; Taneez 7-13 (cr8-2), Pervez Ali 3; Dream Prince 9-4 (cr9-1), Mohammad

Essa 4.

Won by 2 1/2L, 3L, 6L. Time: One minute 8 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Talib Hussain.

THE ALLY PLATE DIV III CLASS VII 5F:

Giranari (Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara) 8-2, Mohammad Essa 1; Lucky Gem 9-5 (cr8-12), Irfan Shawani 2; Sonia 8-7, Ashiq Ali 3; Guess Its Me 8-2, Rehan Ahmed 4.

Won by 6L, 3L, 2 1/2L. Time: One minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE ALLY PLATE DIV I CLASS VII 5F:

Sugar Sweet (Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara) 9-0, Mohammad Essa 1; Moon Dazzler 8-9, Ashiq Ali 2; Leopard Of Arab 8-7 (cr8-2), A. Ahmed 3; Play Boy 8-9, M. Nasir 4.

Won by 9L, 3/4L, 10 1/2L. Time: One minute 4 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE NEARIO STAKES — HNADICAP RACE FOR TWO-YEARS OLD COLTS AND FILLIES 5F:

Royal Salute (Qaiser Sultana) 7-11 (cr8-4), Arshad 1; After Shock 8-4, Shahid Rehman 2; 3 Knot 3 8-11, Nadeem Akhtar 3; Magnificent Baby 8-4 (cr8-6), Tariq Baran 4.

Won by Neck, 3/4L, 10 1/2L. Time: One minute 4 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.

THE ALLY PLATE DIV II CLASS VII 5F:

Cash Deposit (Gul Mohammad Rajar) 8-12, M. Nasir 1; Mushki 8-6, Sohail Ahmed 2; Arab Hi Arab 8-6, Fahim K 3; Chun Chun Chun 8-9 (cr9-0), Mumtaz Ali 4.

Won by 2L, 4L, 6L. Time: One minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mushtaq Ali Khan.

THE SHAH MARDAN SHAH II

PIR PAGARA VII DOUBLE

BIRTHDAY CUP 9F:

Gold Krik (Chaudhary Mohsin Ali Asghar) 9-2, Shahid Rehman 1; The Victorious 8-2, Arshad 2; Taiz Per 8-4, Mohammad Essa 3; Claim To Fame 8-4, Ghulam Shabbir II 4.

Won by 1/2L, 11L, 10 3/4L. Time: One minute 56 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ch. Iftikhar.

THE EXTANT PLATE CLASS VI 6F:

Black Velvet (Gul Mohammad Rajar) 9-4, M. Nasir 1; Dilruba 9-0, Mohammad Essa 2; The Reyan 8-13, Shahid Rehman 3; Mannan Prince 9-2, Mumtaz Ali 4.

Won by 2L, 3L, 10L. Time: One minute 17 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mushtaq Ali Khan.

THE AMATIVE PLATE CLASS V DIV I AND II 6F:

Sayeen Jee (Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara) 7-10, Mohammad Essa 1; Captain Black 7-13, Fahim K 2; Closing Argument 9-3, Mumtaz Ali 3; Spice Of Arab 9-5, Arshad 4. Won by 11L, 4L, 1/2L. Time: One minute 16 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.