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LAHORE, Dec 12: Jockey Shahid Rehman rewrote history by his dazzling performance on Friday winning four cup races in a row which included Pakistan St. Leger 2003 at the Racecourse.
The special race day was held in honour of the visiting teams participating in the ongoing 7th Federation of International Polo (FIP) playoff 2003 at Lahore.
Shahid riding Height Of Happiness lost the India Cup run over 1200 metres by short-head from Prince Of Gujrat in the opener after a ding-dong duel between the two.
The defeat spurred Shahid into action, who immediately made amends and landed the Iran Cup partnering Dancing Key in the second event. He completed his double after a hard-fought win on Pretty Pekan, who beat Laser Lass by about two lengths.
Shahid’s third winner was Naseeb in the AKD Gold Cup and went on to complete his unmatched feat by romping home Feel The Freedom in the Pakistan St. Leger in a spectacular fashion in the fifth race.
Incidentally his first three winners Dancing Key, Pretty Pekan and Naseeb are owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon and trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.
The four year old bay filly Feel The Freedom, owned by Sohrab Khan, was trailing the field of six runners in the early part of the race. She gradually accelerated and stretched out in the straight to win by five lengths from fancied Tora Bora.
Royal Falcon and The Conqueror finished third and fourth. Red Storm fell during the race and could not complete the gruelling 2000 metres distance.
Feel The Freedom is trained by Amjad Ali II. She clocked two minutes 9 3/5 seconds over the distance.
A race earlier, bay colt Naseeb outclassed his four rivals to lift the AKD Gold Cup run over 1600 metres. He defeated Saqi by three-and-a-half lengths in a burst of speed during the last 200 metres of the race. Ponche and Legality completed the frame.
English fillies Pretty Pekan and Dancing Key owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon lived up to their status of favouritism by winning the Australia Cup and the Iran Cup, in the third and second race, respectively.
The India Cup was annexed by Prince Of Gujrat owned by Hasan Pervaiz Akhtar and ridden by A. Aziz.
Sitting in special enclosures the visiting polo teams of Australia, Iran, India and Singapore watched the event alongwith their officials.
Results.
INDIA CUP, a term race for two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. 1200M.
Prince Of Gujrat (Hasan Pervaiz Akhtar) 9-0 A. Aziz 1. Height Of Happiness 8-4 Shahid Rehman 2. Like A Hero 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 3. Polly Rose 8-4 Qasim Shah 4.
Won by short-head, Distance, 3 3/4 L. Time one minute 12 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.
IRAN CUP CLASS IV 1600M.
Dancing Key (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 9-4 Shahid Rehman 1. Mahnoor 8-4 Qasim Shah 2. Song Of Peace 8-13 Javaid Choudhry 3. Moment To Moment 8-10 Shahid Mustafa 4.
Won by 7 1/2 L, 2 L, 3/4 L. Time one minute 40 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.
AUSTRALIA CUP CLASS I, II & III 1600M.
Pretty Pekan (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 7-12 Shahid Rehman 1. Laser Lass 9-1 Salah-ud-Din (II) 2. Dizzy Height 9-7 Qasim Shah 3. Aegean Daisy 9-0 M. Zeeshan 4.
Won by 1 3/4 L, Distance, 2 3/4 L. Time one minute 38 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.
AKD GOLD CUP, a term race for three-year-old colts and fillies 1600M.
Naseeb (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 9-0 Shahid Rehman 1. Saqi 8-7 Khurrum Sheikh 2. Ponche 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 3. Legality 9-4 Aamer Parvez 4.
Won by 3 1/2 L, 5 L, Distance. Time one minute 40 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.
PAKISTAN ST. LEGER 2003. A term race for four-year-old colts and fillies. 2000M.
Feel The Freedom (Sohrab Khan) 8-11 Shahid Rehman 1. Tora Bora 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 2. Royal Falcon 9-0 Aamer Parvez 3. The Conqueror 9-0 Shahzad Iqbal 4.
Won by 5 L, Neck, Distance. Time two minutes 9 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.
SINGAPORE CUP CLASS V 1400M.
Storm Bird (Sohrab Khan) 8-11 Shahid Mustafa 1. Lucky Dawn 9-0 Shahzad Iqbal 2. Super Star 9-0 Khurrum Sheikh 3. Key Player 8-6 Aamer Parvez 4.
Won by7 1/2 L, 3/4 L, 1/2 L. Time one minute 28 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.
