KARACHI: Outsider bay horse Hot Man upset the applecart to lift the Heroic Cup as rider Mohammad Sajjad survived after the horse he was riding fractured his leg and fell soon after crossing the winning post in the same race of the winter Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

Placed second in the Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara Memorial Cup behind Bravo in the last outing on Nov 18, the seven-year-old Hot Man atone that loss by getting the better of favourite Show Stopper by three lengths to steal the limelight.

Chestnut horse Olympus grabbed the third place beaten by neck while filly My Beauty completed the frame a length-and-a-quarter away among 10 starters.

Owned by Mohammad Naeem and sent by trainer Naveed Baran, the victorious horse was galloped home by rider Tariq Baran.

Panic prevailed as one of the horse Sweet Lady fell on the course after completing the six furlongs cup race. Luckily, its rider escaped unhurt. The injured horse was later destroyed.

At the outset, the start of the day’s proceedings witnessed upset trend as outsiders reigned supreme in the first and second races besides the cup race.

Unknown pedigree bay mare Jugni G galloped to an exciting two lengths victory over mare Load Shedding to win the opening race and present owner M.R. Hussain with a winner.

Debutant dark bay mare Afsa The Great, who was opened as favourite, settled third five lengths behind while another debutant mare Second Life completed the board four lengths further away.

Mare Afreen overcome the co-favourite pair of Mera Aftaab and Mission Possible to annex the second race competed by seven horses following the withdrawal of Sonia Again and Day Breaker.

Owned by Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara, Afreen sprinted to a length-and-a-quarter victory over Mera Aftaab as Mission Possible was placed third six lengths behind. Race completed the board.

Punters, who suffered heavily in the first three races, got some relief when Lahore’s Shan-e-Kais got the better of Great Jawad by five lengths in the fourth and last race.

Shan-e-Kais and Sher Khan were co-favourites for the race but the latter finished off the board.

Zarnatta and Cherish followed the two in same order.

Meanwhile, the next Gymkhana race meeting will be held next Saturday (Dec 9).

Results:

THE HEROIC PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII 4½ F:

Jugni G (M.R. Hussain) 7-10, Mohammad Amjad 1; Load Shedding 8-8, Waheed Baran 2, Asfa The Great 8-11, Pervez Ali 3, Second Life 8-11, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by 2 L, 5 L, 4 L. Time: One minute 3 seconds. Winner trained by S.A. Zaidi.

THE HEROIC PLATE SCALE ORDER VI AND VII 5 F:

Afreen (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-3, Zaki Zakir 1; Mera Aftaab 8-2, Waheed Baran 2; Mission Possible 8-1, Mohammad Sajjad 3; Race 9-2, Asad Aksir 4.

Won by 1½ L, 3 L, 4 L. Time: One minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE HEROIC CUP SCALE ORDER I, II, III AND IV ROUND BEND 6 F:

Hot Man (Mohammad Naeem) 10-0, Tariq Baran 1; Show Stopper 7-2, Zaki Zakir 2; Olympus 10-0, Mohammad Nasir 3; My Beauty 7-12, Waheed Baran 4.

Won by 3 L, Neck, 1¼ L. Time: One minute 17 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Naveed Baran.

THE HEROIC PLATE SCALE ORDER IV, V AND VI 5 F:

Shan-e-Kais (Darwin) (Saeed Raza) 7-8 (cr8-4), Nazil Hussain 1; Great Jawad 7-8 (cr7-12), Wasim 2; Zarnatta 9-2m Waheed Baran 3; Cherish 8-7, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by 5 L, 1½ L, 3 L. Time: One minute 4 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2017