KARACHI: The day belonged to the Pirs as horses from the stables of Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara presented him a splendid double, including the cup named after his illustrious father, in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

The Shah Mardan Shah II Pir Pagaro VII Memorial Cup that was the main event of the day ended in a blaze of glory for thoroughbred filly French Pass who edged co-favourite five-year-old bay horse Big Bravo by three-and-a-half lengths.

French Pass, who was placed second behind Dandy’s Girl by a length-and-a-half in her maiden run on Nov 17, delighted the owner to keep the cup in the family.

The winning horse clocked one minute 43 1/5 seconds for the race that was run over a mile.

The victorious horse was efficiently piloted home by rider Sohail Ahmed and sent out by seasoned trainer Mohyuddin as the two also shared the fruits of double.

Dangerous Secret was placed third five lengths behind and further edged Class Leader by Neck who completed the frame.

Earlier, the owner-rider-trainer trio had celebrated the success of French Pass’s stable-mate filly Funky Twist who obliged all and sundry by edging out bay horse Place Your Bets by head in a closely-fought race.

Shining Arrow and Pari seized third and fourth places respectively on board.

At the outset, the race-goers suffered when rank outsider four-year-old chestnut colt Chief Sahab lowered the colours of favourite bay horse Sher Khan by one length to win the opening race.

Shan-e-Kaif fell back by three lengths to finish third followed by filly Swarovski who was beaten by same distance among seven starters.

With two wins already under her belt, fancied three-year-old filly Most Gifted completed a hat-trick by galloping to four-length victory over Dhannak to grab the third race.

But it was Lahore’s debutant Skype who dazzled to smart four lengths victory to oblige owner and punters alike. The victorious horse was ridden home by Lahore’s rider Aftab Chaudhry.

Skype’s stable-mate bay horse Tip Top galloped to half-a-length victory over fancied Maalik to annex the last event of the day.

Both Skype and Tip Top are owned by Ali Raza Zia.

Results:

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALR ORDER I, II, III 5 F:

Chief Sahab (Dr Farhan Essa) 7-5, Zaki Zakir 1; Sher Khan 8-1, Asad Aksir 2; Shan-e-Kaif 9-4, Pervez Ali 3; Swarovski 8-6, Mohammad Manzoor 4.

Won by 1 L, 3 L, 3 L. Time: One minute 4 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALR ORDER IV, V 5 F:

Funky Twist (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-10, Sohail Ahmed 1; Place Your Bets 8-11, Mohammad Nasir 2; Shining Arrow 8-11, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Pari 9-0, Zohaib Qamar 4.

Won by Head, 2½ L, 4 L. Time: One minute 5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALR ORDER III, IV 5 F:

Most Gifted (Irfan Mehdi) 9-0, Mohammad Manzoor 1; Dhannak 8-10 (cr9-3), Tariq Baran 2; Meri Saba 8-10, Riaz Ahmed 3; Jan-e-Fida 8-12, Asghar Ali 4.

Won by 4 L, 1¾ L, 1½ L. Time: One minute 5 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Yousuf S.

THE SHAH MARDAN SHAH II PIR PAGARO VII MEMORIAL CUP 1 M:

French Pass (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 9-11, Sohail Ahmed 1; Big Bravo 10-0, Aftab Chaudhry 2; Dangerous Secret 9-11, Mohammad Nasir 3; Class Leader 7-0, Asad Aksir 4.

Won by 3½ L, 5 L, Neck. Time: One minute 43 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALR ORDER VII AND VIII 4 F:

Skype (Ali Raza Zia) 8-13, Aftab Chaudhry 1; Pick Power 7-9, Riaz Ahmed 2; Sonia Again 9-2, Mohammad Rashid 3; Sarwan Rose 9-1, Asad Aksir 4.

Won by 4 L, 2 L, 5 L. Time: 0.53 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tanvir Abbasi.

THE MEMORIAL PLATE SCALR ORDER V AND VI 4 F:

Tip Top (Ali Raza) 9-0, Zohaib Qamar 1; Maalik 8-6, Asad Aksir 2; Jawad Love 8-4, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Whats App 8-4, Zaki Zakir 4.

Won by ½ L, 10 L, 1 ¼ L. Time: 0.52 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nasim.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2018