KARACHI: Rank outsider dark bay horse Parachuter upset the applecart capturing the day’s feature event in the winter Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

Having failed to even finish on the board in the preceding three outings, Parachuter galloped to a two-length victory over bay horse Native Prince to pull off the only upset in a three-race card.

The triumph under seasoned rider Zaki Zakir helped Parachuter to open his seasons account.

Bay horse Tip Top, who led the field after negotiating the bend, fell three lengths behind to finish third as favourite unknown bay mare Duran Duran had to be content with fourth place another three-quarter-of-a-length away.

The result changed the mood of punters as turf accountants denied clean sweep of favourites.

Parachuter’s success helped rider Zakir to excel in his cadre with a back-to-back double.

Making his appearance after Dec 30 meeting,

fancied chestnut horse Justify justified his credentials posting to three lengths victory under Zakir to make it two on the trot.

Justify beat dark bay horse Black Smoke for the honours among nine starters as Paris and Pari occupied the following two places on board.

At the outset, unknown pedigree bay horse Cracks Man obliged all and sundry by getting the better of mare Kahkashan by three lengths to pick up spoils in the opener.

This was Cracks Man’s maiden victory having finished nowhere while making his debut on Nov 24.

Mare Sharapova was placed third two-and-a-half lengths away while Aas Pass completed the frame another half-a-length behind.

Cracks Man and Justify belonged to the same connection and were sent by trainer Mohammad Sharif.

Results:

THE MULTAN PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F: Cracks Man (Zainab Ali and Aariz Nawaz) 8-10, Sohail Ahmed 1; Kahkashan 8-10, Zaki Zakir 2; Sharapova 8-12, Aksir A 3; Aas Pass 9-0, Nazil Hussain 4. Won by 3 L, 2½ L, ½ L. Time: 0.53 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Sharif.

THE MULTAN PLATE SCALE ORDER V, VI & VII — 4½ F: Justify (Zainab Ali and Iman Ali) 7-4, Zaki Zakir 1; Black Smoke 8-9, Nazil Hussain 2; Paris 8-8, Wasim 3; Pari 8-4, Zohaib Qamar 4 Won by 3 L, 2 L, 7 L. Time: 0.58 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Sharif.

THE MULTAN PLATE SCALE ORDER III & IV — 4½ F: Parachuter (Hassan Khan) 7-4, Zaki Zakir 1; Native Prince 9-0, Zohaib Qamar 2; Tip Top 9-0, Wasim 3; Duran Duran 8-3, Sohail Ahmed 4 Won by 2 L, 3 L, ¾ L. Time: 0.59 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2019