KARACHI: Second favourite four-year-old dark bay colt Arham Prince lifted The Zodiac Cup as one race was cancelled following foul start in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

Having placed second in the last meeting, The 2000 Guineas of Pakistan behind Cherish on Dec 25, Arham Prince upset the applecart while overcoming public fancy mare Afreen by two-and-a-half lengths in the fourth race.

Chestnut horse Ayaash settled for third place, 11 lengths away with bay filly Popular Pride completing the frame beaten by neck among five starters as Chief Sahab was withdrawn.

Arham Prince was ridden home by rider Wasim who completed a double as outsider Black Tiger lowered the colours of favourite mare Shandar Love galloping to eight lengths victory in the second race.

Black Tiger has returned to competitive racing after three-month layoff.

Bay horse Millansar was pushed to third place, a length-and-a-half behind while mare Lucky Lady completed the board five-and three-quarter-of-a-length.

The stewards cancelled the third race terming it a foul start.

Rider Tariq Baran dominated the opening and concluding races to match the feat of Wasim.

Baran obliged all and sundry while piloting favourite bay horse Blue Revenue home who edged mare Load Shedding by distance in the opener.

Trigger had to be content with third place, two-and-a-half lengths away while mare Golden Sparrow completed the frame 10 lengths away.

Earlier, the field was reduced to seven horses following withdrawal of Raging Victory.

Favourite five-year-old bay horse Big Bash justified its credentials while getting the better of bay horse Hot Man by two lengths to make it two wins on trot in the day’s feature event.

This is the second successive time Big Bash had prevailed over Hot Man.

Bay horses Mohtram and Toofan occupied the third and fourth places respectively on board among four starters.

It is pertinent to mention that the quartet finished in the same order in the last meeting on Feb 17.

Meanwhile, the next Gymkhana race meeting will be held on March 10 as Pakistan Derby takes place at Lahore on March 4.

Results:

THE ZODIAC PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII 4½ F:

Blue Revenue (Hamidullah Kasi) 9-2, Tariq Baran 1, Load Shedding 8-9 (cr8-2), Zohaib Qamar 2; Trigger 8-8, Wasim 3; Golden Sparrow 8-11 (cr8-6), Ali Ehsan 4.

Won by Dist, 2½ L, 10 L. Time: 0.57 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Mazhar.

THE ZODIAC PLATE SCALE ORDER VI AND VII4½ F:

Black Tiger (Shahzad Emanual) 8-3, Wasim 1; Shandar Love 9-0, Mohammad Nasir 2; Millansar 8-9, Waheed Baran 3; Lucky Lady 8-9, Mohammad Sajjad 4

Won by 8 L, 1¼ L, 5¾ L. Time: 0.59 seconds. Winner trained by Mujahid Ali.

THE ZODIAC CUP SCALE ORDER IV AND V 5 F:

Arham Prince (Irfan Mehdi) 9-0, Wasim 1; Afreen 8-2, Mohammad Sajjad 2; Ayaash 8-8, Mohammad Faiz 3; Popular Pride 8-1, Latif 4.

Won by 2½ L, 11 L, Neck. Time: One minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Yousuf S.

THE ZODIAC PLATE SCALE ORDER I STRAIGHT 5½ F:

Big Bash (Haji Sahib Jan Bareach) 9-8, Tariq Baran 1; Hot Man 10-0, Waheed Baran 2; Mohtram 7-10 (cr8-0), Wasim 3; Toofan 7-5 (cr8-0), Shahzad Gul 4.

Won by 2 L, 7 L, 4½ L. Time: One minute 8 ¾ seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2018