KARACHI: Outsider bay mare Lovely Baby lowered the colours of favourite chestnut horse Olympus to land the October Cup as the Gymkhana race meeting resumed after a fortnight break at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

Lovely Baby, who had upset the applecart in the last outing also, edged the fancied opponent by neck to lift the trophy. The victorious horse was piloted home by experienced rider Zaki Zakir, who also rode it to victory in the last run.

With two second-place finishes under his belt, bay horse Minister of Bhakkar was pushed into third place, beaten by two lengths and-a-half while mare Tanya completed the frame further beaten by five lengths.

Earlier, the field was reduced to five horses following withdrawal of bay horse Doctor before the race.

At the outset, bay mare Zareen made her mark in the second outing while getting the better of debutant Blue Revenue by half-a-length in the opening race.

It is pertinent to mention that she was amongst those who also ran in the last meeting.

Blue Revenue was opened favourite when the betting commenced for the four furlong race.

Lapait Lo was placed third edged by distance while Atrocity took the fourth spot 10 lengths behind.

Favourite chestnut horse K. Al Arab, with senior rider Mohammad Nasir in the saddle, presented his new owner Abu Bakar Memon his maiden victory galloping to four lengths victory over bay mare Sea Gold in the next race.

Lucky lady and Shandar Love occupied the next two slots on the board respectively.

Similarly, chestnut horse Don Again presented his new owner Sattar Shah his maiden victory while sprinting to four lengths victory over chestnut horse Race in the fourth and last race.

Faryad Prince, who was opened favourite, had to be content with third place two and-a-half lengths away while Popular Pride occupied fourth place among half-a-dozen starters as New Hope was withdrawn before the start.

Meanwhile, the next Gym-khana race meeting will be held on Oct 14.

The races are being held on Saturdays to avoid clash with the Lahore Racecourse and enabled turf accountants of the two cities to attend the meetings, sources told Dawn.

Three turf accountants from Lahore were among 13 who were present at the KRC on Saturday.

Results:

THE OCTOBER PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII 4 F:

Zareen (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-2 (cr8-4), Pervez Ali 1; Blue Revenue 8-9 (cr8-6), Ghous Bux 2; Lapait Lo 9-0, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Atrocity 7-12, Ganguzar 4.

Won by ½ L, Dist, 10 L. Time: 0.52 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin

THE OCTOBER PLATE SCALE ORDER VI AND VII 4½ F:

K. Al Arab (Abu Bakar Memon) 9-0, Mohammad Nasir 1; Sea Gold 8-3, Wasim 2; Lucky Lady 8-1, Zaki Zakir 3; Shandar Love 8-2 (cr8-7), Nazil Hussain 4.

Won by4 L, 6 L, 6 L. Time: 0.59 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE OCTOBER CUP SCALE ORDER I AND II 4½ F:

Lovely Baby (Sher Mohammad) 7-6, Zaki Zakir 1; Olympus 9-0, Waheed Baran 2; Minister of Bhakkar 7-13, Mohammad Alam 3; Tanya 9-3, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by Neck, 2½ L, 5 L. Time: 0.57 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE OCTOBER PLATE SCALE ORDER IV AND V 4½ F:

Don Again (Sattar Shah) 8-2, Waheed Baran 1; Race 7-10, Bilal Ahmed 2; Faryad Prince 7-11, Wasim 3; Popular Pride 8-9, Ghulam Shabbir II 4.

Won by 4 L, 2½ L, Dist. Time: 0.58 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tanvir Abbasi.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2017