KARACHI: Outsiders dominated a small four-race card in the Gymkhana race meeting as stewards come down hard on a rider by withdrawing his license for ‘unsatisfactory riding’ on Sunday.

The opener set the trend of upsets which continued up to the third race before the punters heaved a sigh of relief when favourite obliged all and sundry in the concluding race which was also the day’s feature event.

Unknown pedigree bay horse Rana The Great overcome the pair of favourite colt Kalu Khan and second favourite mare Beautiful Rose to land the opener.

Making amends, Rana The Great prevailed over Kalu Khan by a length and-a-quarter to win the honours with Beautiful Rose occupying third place three-and-a-half lengths away. Filly Sweet Sereena completed the board further beaten by two lengths among five starters.

Soon after the race, rider of Kalu Khan, Abdul Hakeem was penalised by KRC president Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashdi for allegedly disturbing the race after taking the jump.

After successive failures, long shot filly Lovely Baby created quite a stir while lowering the colours of fancied colt Jagga Jasoos by four lengths to continue the upset trend. Rider A. Ahmed succeeded Abdul Hakeem on the winning mount.

Sonia Again and Jugni G followed the top two in same order on the board.

Upcoming rider Mohammad Qais powered yet another outsider colt Fantastic Game to a splendid seven-length victory over filly My Beauty. Kishmish was placed third while half money favourite My Time settled fourth.

After suffering heavily in the first three races, smile return on the faces of punters when favourite three-year-old bay filly Quicken Away galloped home by eight lengths over Miss Oscar to claim the feature event.

Results:

THE KARACHI PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII 4½ F:

Rana The Great (Zia-ur-Rehman) 8-8 (cr9-0), Tariq Baran 1; Kalu Khan 8-1, Abdul Hakeem 2; Beautiful Rose 8-3, Mohammad Qais 3; Sweet Sereena 9-0, Wasim 4.

Won by 1¼ L, 3½ L, 2 L. Time: One minute 1 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE KARACHI PLATE SCALE ORDER VI AND VII 5 F:

Lovely Baby (Sher Mohammad) 7-10 (cr8-0), A. Ahmed 1; Jagga Jasoos 8-12 (cr8-7), Mohammad Qais 2; Sonia Again 8-12, Wasim 3; Jugni G 8-3, M. Amjad 4.

Won by 4 L, 7 L, 1¼ L. Time: One minute 6 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE KARACHI PLATE SCALE ORDER IV AND V 5 F:

Fantastic Game (Nand Kumar Goklani) 8-2, Mohammad Qais 1; My Beauty 8-12, Wasim 2; Kishmish 8-13, Tariq Baran 3; My Time 7-11, Zaki Zakir 4.

Won by 7 L, 3½ L, distance. Time: One minute 6 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE KARACHI PLATE SCALE ORDER II, III AND IV 5 F:

Quicken Away (Haji Khuda Bux Rajar) 8-0, Sohail Ahmed 1; Miss Oscar 8-4, A. Ahmed 2; Aslan 8-5, Ghulam Shabbir II 3; Wait A Second 8-9 (cr8-13), M. Nasir 4.

Won by 8 L, Head, 6 L. Time: One minute 3 3/ 5 seconds. Winner trained by Abid Ali Jan.

Published in Dawn September 26th, 2016