LAHORE: Five-year-old unknown pedigree mare Hurram put up a smashing performance by winning the feature event during the 2nd Lahore Summer Meeting at the Lahore Racecourse here on Sunday.

Ridden by jockey Aftab Chaudhry, the 5 t0 2 chance mare beat 40 to 100 favourite colt That Man Again, a son of high profile Irish sire Dunhill Star, by three lengths to prove the old saying that horse-racing is a sport of great uncertainties.

For the racing fans it was more pathetic to see the progeny of a sire from the famous bloodline of Northern Dancer beaten by an unknown pedigree mare which is enough to tarnish the image of his stable.

Only a fortnight back That Man Again had finished second four lengths behind the charismatic filly, Light The Night, who clocked a record fastest timing in the 1,100 metres race.

Credit must go to owner Makhdoomzada Syed Abbas Mehdi and trainer M. Afzal for tuning up the unknown breed bay mare to beat the thoroughbred fine bred colt in a stunning triumph in the event run over 1,000 metres.

Bay horse Sahil and chestnut Friendly completed the frame in this fifth race of the day.

A race later, half-bred dark-bay colt Face The Pace set a wonderful pace to beat thoroughbred horse Anchor in the supporting event contested over 1,000 metres.

Ridden by jockey Aamir Pervez, this was the maiden success of the son of Better Case out-of-Don’t Chase, who it seemed threw a gauntlet to his seven rivals and won in that style.

Leading trainer Tauqir Ahmed, who is heading the Lahore trainers’ statistics for the current season with 48 victories, registered an easy win sending his bay filly Kali Ghata to the collar front-running gray gelding in the second race.

Tauqir is now sitting relaxed on way to win the trainers’ championship because his nearest rivals Qaiser (22), Mohammad Afzal (21) and Haji Abid Mahmood (21) are far behind to cut his lead when the season ends.

Meanwhile, the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards keeping the persistent hot summer weather in view have decided to shift to day and night racing from next Sunday (May 31).

The programme will start at 5.00pm, an official announcement said.

Results:

THE LORINA PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV — 900M:

Chal Samney (M. Fayyaz) 9-0, M. Riaz Hussain 1; Bulbul Again 7-12, Alam Sher 2; Shannel 8-2, Raheel Sabir 3; Phantom 8-0, Sunny Babu 4. Won by Short-head, 3 L, 1½ L. Time 58 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mubarak Ali.

THE LORINA PLATE CLASS VII DIV III & IV — 900M:

Kali Ghata (Chaudhry Naeemuddin Warraich) 9-0, M. Zeeshan 1; Amratseria 8-0, Alam Sher 2; Baby Doll 7-12, Riaz Hussain 3; Mushk-e-Amber 8-12, Majid Ali II 4. Won by 1 L, 5 L, 3 L. Time 56 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tauqir Ahmed.

THE LORINA PLATE CLASS VII DIV II & III — 900M:

Lucky Game (Ajmal Hussain Khan) 7-12, M. Hanif 1; Dera Dubai 8-10, M. Jameel 2; Ashal 7-10, Sunny Babu 3; Qadardan 8-0, M. Sajjad 4. Won by Short-head, ¾ L, 2 L. Time 56 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Abbas.

THE LORINA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I & II — 900M:

Aye Shamyan (Naseeb Khan) 8-6, Khalid 1; Nambardar 8-8, M. Hanif 2; Aboor 8-6, S. Raza 3; Raja Gee 7-12, Sunny Babu 4. Won by 1¼ L, 7 L, 2 L. Time 55 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE LORINA PLATE CLASS VI DIV I (CLASS V INCLUDED) — 1,000M:

Hurram (Makhdoomzada Syed Abbas Mehdi) 9-4, Aftab Chaudhry 1; That Man Again 8-0, M. Jameel 2; Sahil 7-8, S. Raza 3; Friendly 9-6, Raheel Sabir 4.
Won by 3 L, Distance, Distance. Time one minute 0 1/6 seconds. Winner trained by M. Afzal.

THE LORINA PLATE CLASS VI DIV III — 1,000M:

Face The Pace (Malik Salman Khalid) 8-0, Aamir Pervez 1; Anchor 9-4, M. Hanif 2; Chand Pari 8-4, Waheed Baran 3; Nikita 7-10, Sunny Babu 4. Won by 3 L, 3 L, 1 L. Time one minute 1 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Azhar Ali.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play