KARACHI: In an spectacular performance, outsider chestnut mare Dilwali come from behind to edge mare Pari by Neck to clinch the Monsoon Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

Dilwali, who finished off the frame in the last two runs, kicked up in home stretch to win the cup in close finish and upset the applecart. Bay horse Sher Khan settled third two lengths behind while favourite three-year-old bay filly Golden Guest managed to complete the frame beaten by Head among half-a-dozen starters after Salam-e-Kaif and Rainbow were withdrawn before the race.

Sources said rider of Salam-e-Kaif, Sohail Ahmed, felt pain in the chest while riding after the horse stumbled. Later he was replaced by Asad Aksir on Zoaq in the fourth race.

The triumph on Dilwali earned prodigy Aksir a back-to-back double as he galloped favourite bay horse Dancing Boy to five-length win over Shining Glory in earlier race.

At the outset, race goers suffered heavily after long shot dark bay horse Black Smoke clinched his maiden race by getting the better of Sweet Sereena by four lengths. They were followed by Fast Departure and Mehak respectively.

Debutant Victory Warrior, who was opened favourite, finished off the frame as he run along bend.

Favourite chestnut horse Whip’m, meanwhile, obliged punters while stretching his winning run prevailing over Zoaq by three lengths in the last race which was also the feature event.

Results:

THE MONSOON PLATE SCALE ORDER VII AND VIII 4 F:

Black Smoke (M. Zafar) 8-8, Aksir A 1; Sweet Sereena 8-2, M. Sajjad 2; Fast Departure 9-0 (cr9-2), Tariq Baran 3; Mehak 7-11, Zaki Zakir 4.

Won by 4 L, 3½ L, 2¼ L. Time: 0.55 seconds. Winner trained by Aurangzeb.

THE MONSOON PLATE SCALE ORDER VI AND VII 4 F:

Dancing Boy (Ubaid Ali) 8-4 (cr8-1), Mohammad Qais 1; Shinning Arrow 8-10, Wasim 2; Dhannak 8-7, Sohail Ahmed 3; Winning Direction 8-12, Asad Aksir 4.

Won by 5 L, Neck, 8 L. Time: 0.52 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Mazhar.

THE MONSOON CUP SCALE ORDER IV, V AND VI 4½ F:

Dilwali (Abdul Hameed and Hafiz M. Noman) 8-6, Mohammad Qais 1; Pari 8-7 (cr8-2), Zohaib Qamar 2; Sher Khan 7-11, Zaki Zakir 3; Golden Guest 8-7, Sohail Afridi 4.

Won by Neck, 2 L, Head. Time: 0.59 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Amjad Ali.

THE MONSOON PLATE SCALE ORDER II, III AND IV 4½ F:

Whip’m (Yasmeen Azhar) 9-0, M. Manzoor 1; Zoaq 8-8, Asad Aksir 2; Lovely Baby 7-7, Zaki Zakir 3; Shan-e-Kaif 8-0 (cr8-4), Pervez Ali 4.

Won by 3 L, 5 L, 2½ L. Time: 0.56 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2018