KARACHI: Rider Sohail Ahmed delighted the horse-racing connoisseurs by returning home with a splendid double as all but one favourite won in a five-race card of the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Sohail presented owner Karim Bux with a winner when he powered fancied bay filly Fly Free to a two-length success in the opener. Victory has eluded the filly in the previous seven outings. Fly Free got the better of mare Beautiful Rose for the honours.

Filly Sonia Again had to be content with third place, another two lengths behind while colt Popular Boy completed the frame among 10 starters.

The rider rounded off his feat by galloping favourite three-year-old bay filly Sensational to victory by half-a-length over Amazing One in the fifth and concluding race. Urban Lady and Amazing Power claimed the next two places on board respectively.

Bay Horse Shahzad Love atoned for the previous loss by imposing to a facile five-length victory over colt Bugash Bugash in the second race.

Similarly, four-year-old bay colt All The Way lived up to his credentials defeating bay horse Business Man by six lengths in the next race.

Form horse three-year-old bay colt Risk Free got injured in the saddling stable before the race and was subsequently disqualified. Another horse Janisar was scratched in the morning leaving six horses in fray.

Rank outsider Touching Star edged favourite filly Loyal Lady by a head to upset the applecart in the fourth race.

Meanwhile, the next Gymkhana race meeting will be held on Oct 25 (Saturday).

Results: THE NATIONAL PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII-UK 5 F:

Fly Free (Karim Bux) 9-4, Sohail Ahmed 1; Beautiful Rose 8-12 (cr8-9), A. Qayyum 2; Sonia Again 8-4, Riaz Ahmed 3; Popular Boy 8-0 (cr8-4), Pervez Ali 4. Won by 2 L, 2 L, 4¼ L. Time: One minute 9 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Rafiq K.

THE NATIONAL PLATE SCALE ORDER V, VI AND VII 5 F:

Shahzad Love (Mir Khan) 7-13, Riaz Ahmed 1; Bugash Bugash 7-10, Ashiq Ali 2; Khazana 8-2, Pervez Ali 3; Lucky Lyna 9-1, A. Qayyum 4. Won by 5 L, 6½ L, 4½ L. Time: One minute 6 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Zia-ur-Rehman.

THE NATIONAL PLATE SCALE ORDER IV AND V 5 F:

All The Way (M. Zaid Khan Tessori) 9-0, Pervez Ali 1; Business Man 8-8, Riaz Ahmed 2; Rytham 8-12, Ashiq Ali 3; Choco Bar 7-11 (cr8-3), Ghulam Shabbir II 4.
Won by 6 L, 5 L, 2 L. Time: One minute 6 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE NATIONAL PLATE SCALE ORDER I 5 F:

Touching Star (Aziz Nawaz/Yousuf Ali Khan) 9-1, M. Manzoor 1; Loyal Lady 8-1, Pervez Ali 2; Cash The Cheque 9-3, M. Nasir 3; Snow Fairy 8-0, Riaz Ahmed 4. Won by Head, 6 L, Distance. Time: One minute 5 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Taj Mohammad.

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

Sensational (P.K. Ahuja) 8-10, Sohail Ahmed 1; Amazing One 8-10, Mohammad Essa 2; Urban Lady 7-5, M. Sajjad 3; Amazing Power 8-4, Zaki Zakir 4. Won by ½ L, 12 L, Distance. Time: One minute 4 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Mazhar.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2014