KARACHI: Favourite five-year-old bay mare Sweet Victory edged bay horse Tip Top by neck in exciting finish to clinch The Eid Milan Cup as races resumed after a break at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

The cup race was preceded by re-betting that was ordered by stewards after punters had backed four-year-old colt Determination who was not on job.

In re-betting Sweet Victory, who had to be content with fourth place in her last outing, was opened favourite and managed to justify the billing winning the second race of season.

Owned by JCP steward Irfan Mehdi, the victorious horse was piloted home by rider Mohammad Manzoor and sent by trainer Yousuf S.

Bay horse Salam-e-Kaif fell third two lengths behind followed by mare Pari as Beat The Clock was withdrawn before the race leaving half-a-dozen horses in the fray.

Favourites meanwhile, dominated the mediocre four-race card winning three races.

Rider Pervez Ali excelled in his cadre while galloping two other favourite mares Princess Of Hope and Dazzling Diva.

Pervez first guided Princess Of Hope to a facile four lengths victory over Kahkashan to win the second race and later steered Dazzling Diva to three quarter-of-a-length victory over stable-mate Don Khalifa in the fourth.

At the outset, public suffered when rank outsider dark bay mare Aas Pass upset the applecart by getting the batter of mare Sharapova by half-a-length as public fancy Ahsan The Great settled third.

Results:

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:

Aas Pass (Muntazir Mehdi) 9-0, Nazil Hussain 1; Sharapova 8-5 (cr7-13), Ali Raza II 2; Ahsan The Great 8-7, Pervez Ali 3; Mehak 8-7, Mohammad Qais 4.

Won by ½ L, 5 L, 4¾ L. Time: 0.54 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Mazhar.

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER VI & VII — 4 F:

Princess Of Hope (Adam Khan Lango) 8-1, Pervez Ali 1; Kahkashan 8-7, Zaki Zakir 2; Saudagar 8-3, Sohail Ahmed 3; Sassy Gold 8-3, Nazil Hussain 4.

Won by 4 L, 3 L, 10 L. Time: 0.52 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Shahzad.

THE EID MILAN CUP SCALE ORDER II, III & IV — 4 F:

Sweet Victory (Irfan Mehdi) 8-10, Mohammad Manzoor 1; Tip Top 7-0, Mohammad Qais 2; Salam-e- Kaif 7-5, Pervez Ali 3, Pari 9-0, Nazil Hussain 4.

Won by Neck, 2 L, 6 L. Time: 0.51 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Yousuf S.

THE EID MILAN PLATE SCALE ORDER V & VI — 4 F:

Dazzling Diva (Sher Mohammad) 7-10, Pervez Ali 1; Don Khalifa 7-13, Mohammad Sajjad 2; Dilwali 8-10, Shahzad Gul 3; Justify 7-10, Riaz Ahmed 4.

Won by ¾ L, 7 L, 5 L. Time: 0.52 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2019