LAHORE: Odds-on favourite bay colt Mohtaram lived up to his star-breeding credentials while powering to a magnificent victory in the Mohammad Ghani Cheema Memorial Cup during the seventh Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse here on Sunday.

Off to a fine start the four-year-old son of English sire, Virtual-out of- Irish mare Pouty Turn, Mohtaram led all the way home to beat bay colt My Guest by four lengths with chestnut colt Spartan third in the featured event, which was the fourth race of the seven-event card.

Owned by Lahore Race Club (LRC) chairman Tariq Aziz, Mohtaram clocked a fast time of one minute and 12 seconds over 1,200 metres. This was colt’s third successive cup victory after having annexed the Ginza Plate and Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed Nishan-i-Haider Cup last month.

The following race, which was the also the supporting event, the Montreaux Plate Class VI Division I & II over 1,200 metres was won by bay filly Big Confidence, who proved worth her name with a confident success over 20 to 100 favourite bay filly Colour Me Crazy, who disappointed her backers by a dismal show.

Similarly, hot favourite bay filly Blue Moon too disappointed her followers in the sixth race, the Montreaux Plate Class VI Division II & III contested over 1,200 metres while slithering to third spot behind bay filly Angel Eye and chestnut colt Mighty Dot.

Meanwhile, the Annual General Meeting of the LRC approved the unanimous elections of the ten-steward panel earlier on Sunday.

The panel re-elected comprises Tariq Aziz (chairman), Malik Hamid Ali Noon, Sheikh Sajjad Hasan, Masud Pervez, Syed Pervez Hussain, Chaudhary Ahmed Saeed, Mohsin Jamil Baig, Arbab Mohammad Zahoor, Azmat Ali Ranjha and Makhdum Syed Ahmad Mahmud (in order of seniority).

After the AGM steward Syed Pervez Hussain said the unanimous elections of LRC stewards was a clear proof of members’ confidence reposed in the leadership of Tariq Aziz, who he said has rendered invaluable services for the cause of horse-racing, horse-breeding and the racing fraternity as a whole.

Syed recounting Tariq’s achievements, Pervez said the biggest was transformation of the club into an all-weather modern racing facility in Lahore with the provision of staging day/night racings.

Results: THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VII DIV III & IV — 900M: Aajiz (M.S. Butt) 8-12, Sajjad Hussain 1; Lovely Shehzadi 8-10, S. Raza 2; Gold Medal 7-10, Majid Ali II 3; Jasim’s Jet 8-6, Qadeer Ahmed 4. Won by Head, ½ L, 3 L. Time 56 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rana M. Arshad. THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VII DIV II & III — 1,100M: Ring Road (Arif Mahmood Butt) 8-0, Tahir Abbas 1; Khan Bright 8-8, Waheed Baran 2; Motor Way 8-2, A. Raza 3; Fancy Flight 8-2, Imran Pervez 4. Won by 1½ L, 5½ L, 3 L. Time one minute 10 seconds. Winner trained by Salahuddin. THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VII DIV I & II — 1,100M: Baby Doll (Ata-ur-Rehman) 8-8, A. Raza 1; Awan Prince 9-2, Tahir Abbas 2; Aboor 8-4, S. Raza 3; Virsa 8-4, M. Sajjad 4. Won by 2 L, 2 L, 5 L. Time one minute 10 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Irfan II. THE MOHAMMAD GHANI CHEEMA MEMORIAL CUP CLASS V (CLASS IV INCLUDED) — 1,200M: Mohtaram (Tariq Aziz) 7-12, M. Hanif 1; My Guest 10-2, Aamir Pervez 2; Spartan 7-12, S. Raza 3; Show Card 9-6, A. Raza 4. Won by 4 L, 2½ L, 3 L, Time one minute 12 seconds. Winner trained by Shahid Rehman. THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VI DIV I & II — 1,200M: Big Confidence (Shahid Mahmood Goga) 8-4, Aamir Pervez 1; Colour Me Crazy 9-2, A. Raza 2; No Way 8-4, S. Raza 3; Moon The Great 8-4, Shakeel Mahmood 4. Won by 2¼ L, 1¾ L, 6 L. Time one minute 13 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VI DIV II & III — 1,200M: Angel Eye (Najeeb Haider Bagri) 8-8, Aftab Chaudhry 1; Mighty Dot 7-8, Alam Sher 2; Blue Moon 7-8, Tahir Abbas 3; Face The Pace 9-0, Aamir Pervez 4. Won by ½ L, 3 L, 5 L. Time one minute 14 seconds. Winner trained by Tauqir Ahmad. THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV — 900M: Aie Roshni (Mohammad Qadir Asghar) 9-0, S. Raza 1; Black Thunder 7-10, Sajjad Hussain 2; Aliyza 8-6, Qadeer Ahmed 3; Kiss Me Cash 7-4, Baber Rehman 4. Won by 5 L, 3¼ 4 L, 7½ L. Time 56 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Hammad Hanif.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2015

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