KARACHI: Rider Sohail Ahmed overshadowed his contemporary Wasim’s splendid double as he powered favourite filly Honey Queen to dazzling victory to lift The Eid Milan Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Sohail tactfully steered the 25 to 100 fancied three-year-old bay filly Honey Queen to a facile six lengths victory to justify his billings. Owned by Haji Khuda Bux Rajar and trained by Abid Ali Jan, the filly got the better of mare National Queen in the scale order II race run over five furlongs to stretch her winning win.

It is pertinent to mention that Honey Queen had completed a hat-trick by winning the preceding three races with ace rider Mohammad Essa astride.

Lava Man, an 11-year-old chestnut horse, was placed third five lengths behind while colt Kick completed the frame further beaten by distance.

The field was reduced to six horses following withdrawal of filly Gamez Over.

Former Karachi Club secretary Javed H. Karim, who is steward of the KRC, awarded the glittering cup to Sohail in the paddock after the race. KRC steward Kamal Farooq and secretary Syed Ali Akbar Shah Rashdi were also present.

This was Sohail’s third cup triumph this season the previous two being The New Year Cup and The Pakistan Day Cup. In both the races he had galloped Hot Man to victory.

Earlier, Wasim made his mark piloting fillies Neem Tree and Lacoste to victories in the first and third races respectively.

The former that become favourite won as she pleased by 14 lengths as filly Seven Seven was not on job in the opener. Fresh from his earlier win, the rider piloted Lacoste home by five lengths in a start-to-finish bid to complete double.

In the other races, filly Rubai beat co-favourite filly Zeenat by three-quarter-of-a-length while colt Revolutionary stretched his winning streak edging Star Gold by distance.

Results:

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII-UK 4 ½ F:

Neem Tree (P.K. Ahuja) 8-6, Wasim 1; My Choice 8-11, Asad Aksir 2; Risky Business 9-0, Abdul Rahim 3; Seven Seven 8-11, Fahim K 4.
Won by 14 L, 12 L, 3½ L. Time: One minute 1 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Mazhar.

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER V, VI AND VII 4 ½ F:

Rubai (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-3, Abdul Rahim 1; Zeenat 7-8, Zaki Zakir 2; Party Time 8-6, Ashiq Ali 3; Free Hand 7-10 (cr8-4), Ghous Bux 4. Won by ¾ L, 6 L, 2½ L. Time: One minute 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Abid Ali.

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER IV 5 F:

Lacoste (Kamil Malik) 8-3, Wasim 1; My Power 8-8, Zaki Zakir 2; Meri Sahiba 8-3, Mohammad Essa 3; Satisfy 7-12, Pervez Ali 4. Won by 5 L, 2½ L, 3½ L. Time: One minute 5 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mujahid Ali.

THE EID MILAN CUP SCALE ORDER II 5 F:

Honey Queen (Haji Khuda Bux Rajar) 8-13, Sohail Ahmed 1; National Queen 9-3, Pervez Ali 2; Lava Man 9-1, Asad Aksir 3; Kick 8-9, Fahim K 4. Won by 6 L, 5 L, distance. Time: One minute 5 seconds. Winner trained by Abid Ali Jan.

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER III AND IV 5 F:

Revolutionary (Irfan Mehdi) 8-12, Abdul Rahim 1; Star Gold 7-11, Abdul Hakim 2; Countach 9-2, Ghous Bux 3; Accepted 7-12, Pervez Ali 4. Won by distance, 2 L, 2½ L. Time: One minute 5 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Hanif.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2015

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