KARACHI: Favourite four-year-old bay colt Hotman walked away with The Iqbal Day Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

On a day when all but one favourite obliged the punters, Hotman hogged the limelight while coming from behind in the home stretch to beat front-runner Gold Horse by six lengths.

Rider Sohail Ahmed tactfully guided his mount in the fifth race to victory – 10th of the season – as owner Mohammad Sumair and trainer Shahid Mannan celebrated the triumph.

It is pertinent to mention that Hotman has named The Basant Cup after his name with Sohail astride earlier this year.

Filly Loyal Lady finished third half-a-length away while colt Gold City completed the frame finishing a further three lengths behind.

A race earlier fancied two-year-old chestnut filly Miss Oscar made amends of her previous loss by capturing The Performance Cup.

Owned by MPA Nawab Taimur Talpur, the filly got the better of colt Kick by seven lengths. Debutants Honey Queen and Lasocte were placed third and fourth respectively among seven starters.

Eminent sports philanthropist Dr Farhan Essa, who graced the occasion, awarded the cups to the winning owners of Miss Oscar and Hotman in a ceremony held in the paddock.

President of the KRC and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Syed Sadruddin Shah, also attended the day’s programme. The Miss Oscar’s emphatic victory helped seasoned jockey Ghulam Shabbir II to complete a splendid double as he partnered filly Wait A Second home by one and three-quarter-of-a length in the third race.

At the outset, bay colt Soldier King won the opener prevailing over filly Sonia Again by seven lengths while colt Risk Free atoned for his last defeat edging bay horse Rytham by distance in a closely fought race.

In the only upset, outsider dark bay horse Arkadian geared up his speed after turning the bend for home by toppling fancied Medusa by half-a-length to claim the sixth and concluding race.

Results: THE IQBAL DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII-UK 4 ½ F:

Soldier King (M. Shakeel) 8-6, M. Sajjad 1; Sonia Again 8-5, Riaz Ahmed 2; Popular Boy 8-0 (cr7-7), Faizan Ali 3; Beautiful Rose 9-2 (cr8-11), Abdul Hakeem 4. Won by 7 L, ¾ L, Neck. Time: One minute 1 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mujahid Ali.

THE IQBAL DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER IV 5 F:

Risk Free (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 9-0, Zubair Ahmed 1; Rytham 8-9, Pervez Ali 2; Business Man 8-8, Riaz Ahmed 3; Cigar 8-10, Sohail Ahmed 4. Won by Distance, 13 L, Distance. Time: One minute 2 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE IQBAL DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER V AND VI 5 F:

Wait A Second (Nanad Kumar) 9-2, Ghulam Shabbir II 1; Karobar 8-10, Aashiq Ali 2; Meri Sahiba 7-9 (cr8-0), Wasim 3; Shahzad Love 7-13, Riaz Ahmed 4. Won by 1¾ L, 4 L, 5 L. Time: One minute 7 seconds. Winner trained by M. Rafiq K.

THE PERFORMANCE CUP – A TERM RACE FOR TWO-YEAR-OLD PAK COLTS AND FILLIES – 5 F:

Miss Oscar (Nawab Taimur Talpur) 8-4, Ghulam Shabbir II 1; Kick 8-7, Riaz Ahmed 2; Honey Queen 8-4, Mohammad Essa 3; Lasocte 8-4, M. Sajjad 4. Won by 7 L, 6½ L, 2 L. Time: One minute 7 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE IQBAL DAY CUP SCALE ORDER I 6 F:

Hotman (Mohammad Sumair) 7-10 (cr7-12), Sohail Ahmed 1; Gold Horse 9-0, Zubair Ahmed 2; Loyal Lady 8-11, Pervez Ali 3; Gold City 8-7, Mohammad Essa 4. Won by 6 L, ½ L, 3 L. Time: One minute 17 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Shahid Mannan.

THE IQBAL DAY PLATE SCALE ORDER II AND III 5 F:

Arkadian (Tariq Aziz) 9-0, Wasim 1; Medusa 9-2, Ghulam Shabbir II 2; Sensational 9-1, Sohail Ahmed 3; Ideal 8-2, Mohammad Essa 4. Won by ½ L, 6 L, 6 L. Time: One minute 5 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2014