KARACHI: Making his maiden appearance on the course, Lahore’s four-year-old bay colt My Guest obliged punters while landing the Shah Mardan Shah II Pir Pagara VII Memorial Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

In the race that was contested over a mile, My Guest showed better endurance to post a commendable win by massive 10 lengths by getting the better of challenger filly Gamez Over. The winning horse clocked one minute 43 1/5 seconds for the distance.

Five-year-old bay horse The Incredible seized third place eight lengths away while bay horse Jahalwan Blue completed the frame a length-and-a-half behind among six starters.

The owner, rider trainer — Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mahmood, M. Hanif, Shahid Rehman) — all hails from Lahore.

A race earlier, another public fancy four-year-old bay colt The King’s Best stretched his winning run by galloping to three lengths victory to claim The Winter Cup.

Owned by KRC steward Syed Ismail Shah, the winning horse was ridden and trained by seasoned rider-cum-trainer Ghulam Shabbir II.

The King’s Best got the better of filly Honey Queen for the honours.

Miss Oscar and Kick followed the two in same order. The race was delayed for quite some time following re-betting after filly Be Cool was injured while breaking the start and scratched.

KRC steward Syed Ismail Shah awarded the Pir Pagara Memorial Cup named after his grandfather to winning rider M. Hanif while ex-Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqui presented The Winter Cup to victorious rider Ghulam Shabbir II in the paddock after the race.

At the outset, stewards upheld the objection of second-placed colt Jagga Jasoos’s rider M. Sajjad against mare Aftab Princess for bumping during the race and declared the former as winner.

Fair Play and Sonia Again finished second and third, respectively.

Favourite bay horse Captaan and filly Stylish also obliged all and sundry by picking up spoils in the second and third races.

The sixth and the last race on card was cancelled due to bad light.

Results:

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII-UK 4½ F:

Jagga Jasoos (Imamuddin Shouqeen) 8-0, M. Sajjad 1; Fair Play 8-4 (cr8-5), Pervez Ali 2; Sonia Again 8-9, Mohammad Essa 3.

Won by 2 L, 6 L, 1¾ L. Time: One minute two seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALE ORDER IV, V AND VI 5 F:

Captaan (Haji Khuda Bux Rajar) 8-7, Wasim 1; Wait A Second 8-7, M. Sajjad 2; Zahrat Dubai 9-4 (cr8-11), M. Qais 3; Popular Prince 9-2, M. Nasir 4.

Won by 4 L, 3 L, ½ L. Time: One minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Abid Ali Jan.

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALE ORDER II AND III 5 F:

Stylish (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-5, Sohail Ahmed 1; Lacoste 8-9, Wasim 2; Neem Tree 7-12, Mohammad Essa 3; Drone 8-10, M. Qais 4.

Won by 2 L, 2½ L, 6 L. Time: One minute 4 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE WINTER CUP SCALE ORDER I AND II 6 F:

The King’s Best (Syed Ismail Shah) 9-11, Ghulam Shabbir II 1; Honey Queen 8-10, Sohail Ahmed 2; Miss Oscar 7-12, M. Sajjad 3; Kick 9-6, Mohammad Essa 4.

Won by 3 L, 11 L, 1¼ L. Time: One minute 16 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

SHAH MARDAN SHAH II PIR PAGARA VII MEMORIAL CUP – A HANDICAP RACE FOR THREE-YEAR AND UPWARD PAK HORSES – I MILE:

My Guest (Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mahmood) 7-11, M. Hanif 1; Gamez Over 7-7, Zaki Zakir 2; The Incredible 8-8, Zubair Ahmed 3; Jahalwan Blue 8-3, Ghous Bux 4.

Won by 10 L, 8 L, 1½ L. Time: One minute 43 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Shahid Rehman).

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015