KARACHI: Favourite six-year-old bay mare Al Spritza obliged owner and punters alike while galloping to six lengths victory over mare Muraafiqah to land The Pakistan Day Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Al Spritza, who was denied a second straight success by Dancing Rain on March 9, avenged her defeat by presenting owner Sibgatullah Shah Pir Pagara with the winner in the fifth race that was run over six furlongs. Ridden by M. Naeem the winning horse was trained by Mohyuddin.

Bay horse Punter’s Dream had to be content with third place three-quarter-of-a-length behind while chestnut horse Gold Horse completed the frame finishing seven lengths further away among seven starters. Dancing Rain finished off the board.

The Haji Khuda Bux Rajar-owned four-year-old bay colt Hotman also lived up to his reputation while capturing The Basant Cup in an earlier race gone over five furlongs. Making amends, the winning horse gets the better of co-favourite mare National Queen by two lengths.

Earlier, the field was reduced to seven horses following withdrawal of Discreet Cat. Frankestein and Dream Girl followed the top two in same order.

Making his appearance after a three-month layoff, three-year-old bay colt Icon, formerly known as Incomparable, showed no mercy to rivals while imposing a two lengths and a half victory over colt Royality to win the sixth and last race.

Colt Amazing Power seized third place half-a-length away while bay horse Shan-e-Mukadar was fourth four lengths further behind. Rider of Happy Lady M. Rashid was suspended for six months by stewards for unsatisfactory riding on his mount.

At the outset, fancied colt Golden Rose beat bay horse Amazing Star as he pleased by seven-and-a-half lengths to claim the opener.

Mare Gumnam edged colt Sher Dil by short head in a photo-finish verdict to win the next race. Touching Wood and Mangia Dil occupied the third and fourth place on board respectively. The bunch of top four horses finished neck-and-neck and the positions were determined on the basis of photo-finish.

In the only upset, filly Jal Pari lowered the colours of fancied Racing Fire registering a length-and-a-quarter win in the third race. The field was reduced to 10 horses following withdrawal of Free For Love from the race.

Results:

THE PAKISTAN DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER VII AND VIII UK 5 F:

Golden Rose (Mohammad Siddique) 8-10 (cr8-7), Shahzad Gul 1; Amazing Star 9-2 (cr8-11), Arif Nazir 2; Lucky Lyna 8-11 (cr78-4), Abdul Hakim 3; Khazana 8-3, M. Nawaz Bilal 4.

Won by 7½ L, 4½ L, 7¼ L. Time: One minute 7 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Usman.

THE PAKISTAN DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER VI AND VII UK 5 F:

Gumnam (Syed Sibgatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 7-10 (cr8-0), Wasim 1; Sher Dil 8-6 (cr7-13), Farjad Habib 2; Touching Wood 7-13 (cr8-5), M. Naeem 3; Mangia Dil 9-4 (cr8-11), Abdul Hakim 4.

Won by S. Head, S. Head, Head. Time: One minute 6 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE PAKISTAN DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER IV, V AND VI UK 5 F:

Jal Pari (P.K. Ahuja) 8-10 (cr8-3), Abdul Hakim 1; Racing Fire 9-2, Zubair Ahmed 2; My Qaswa 8-3, Wasim 3; Silk Master 7-9, Arif Nazir 4.

Won by 1¼ L, 8 L, 4 L. Time: One minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.

THE BASANT CUP SCALE ORDER II 5 F:

Hotman (Haji Khuda Bux Rajar) 8-8, Sohail Ahmed 1; National Queen 8-3, Wasim 2; Frankestein 7-8, Asad Aksir 3; Dream Girl 8-3, Mohammad Essa 4.

Won by 2 L, 1½ L, 2 L. Time: One minute 2 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ali Gul.

THE PAKISTAN DAY CUP – A HANDICAP RACE FOR IMPORTED AND PAK HORSES – 6 F:

Al Spritza (Syed Sibgatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 9-0, M. Naeem 1; Muraafiqah 10-0, Ashiq Ali 2; Punter’s Dream 7-8, Zaki Zakir 3; Gold Horse 7-8, Pervez Ali 4.

Won by 6 L, ¾ L, 7 L. Time: One minute 15 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE PAKISTAN DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER III AND IV 5 F:

Icon (Mohammad Sumair) 8-4, Sohail Ahmed 1; Royality 8-8, Pervez Ali 2; Amazing Power 9-6, M. Naeem 3; Shan-e-Mukadar 9-4, A. Qayyum 4.

Won by 2½ L, ½ L, 4 L. Time: One minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Shahid Mannan.