LAHORE: Chestnut colt Pockets outclassed his fourteen rivals to win the feature event in a magnificent front-running style during the Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse here on Sunday.

As the gates opened, the colt from Irish sire Kavango got off a flying start and led all the way home in the Murree Plate Class VI division III and IV 1,200-metre race to seal a second consecutive victory for the trio of owner Fazeel Asif Jah, trainer A.B. Malik and jockey Tahir Abbas within a fortnight.

Pockets beat favourite bay colt Sahil, ridden by jockey Mohammad Hanif and trained by Rashid Latif, by one and a half lengths, while bay colt Jharra finished third with colt Lorenzo fourth.

The success of Pockets was the second success of jockey Tahir, who had earlier piloted home bay horse Royal Runner in the third race that spurred him in to a further triumph to complete a superb hat-trick of victories when he strode home chestnut filly Cameo in the sixth race of the day to end the day in a blaze of glory.

It was a day of mixed fortunes between the punters and the turf accountants when four well-backed horses won in card of seven races. The race-goers were entertained to some close and thrilling encounters to their great enjoyment on a chilly afternoon.

The Lahore Race Club (LRC) chairman Makhdum Syed Mahmud and steward Mahmood Rafi Khan along with co-opted steward Mohammad Adil Hayat supervised the Sunday’s racing.

Results:

THE KAGHAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV V — 1,100M:

Baa Aitbaar (Shiraz Butt) 7-10, Ghulam Haider 1; Bano 7-10, Mohammad Sajjad 2; Days Gone 8-6, Zain Manzoor 3; Good Action 8-10, Deenar Mirwani 4.

Won by ¾ L, 3 L, 2½ L. Time: one minute 11 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by S. Butt.

THE KAGHAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV- & V — 1,100M:

Prince Of Multan (Asghar Ali) 8-6, Mohammad Hanif 1; Khabib 8-8, Alam Sher 2; Artghal 8-0, Deenar Mirwani 3; Push The Limits 8-8, Ghaus Bakhsh 4.

Won by 1¾ L, ½ L, 5 L. Time: one minute 10 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Babar Bhatti.

THE KAGHAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV — 1,100M:

Royal Runner (Ayaz Hussain Bhutta) 8-8, Tahir Abbas 1; KFK Princess 8-8, Bilal Ahmed 2; Safdar Princess 9-4, Mohammad Hussain 3; Silken Black 8-12, Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 2 L, ½ L, 1½ L. Time: one minute 11 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE KAGHAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV I — 1,100M:

Secret Lady (Hamza Kashif Butt) 8-6, Ghulam Haider 1; Dazzling 9-0, Munir Hussain 2; Legacy 9-0, Babar Rehman 3; Khan Jee 8-8, Mohammad Atif 4.

Won by 1½ L, 1¼ L, 2 L. Time: one minute 8 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Saeed Butt.

THE MURREE PLATE CLASS VI DIV III & IV — 1,200M:

Pockets (Fazeel Asif Jah) 9-0, Tahir Abbas 1; Sahil 8-10, Mohammad Hanif 2; Jharra 8-10, Munir Hussain 3; Lorenzo 8-4, Deenar Mirwani 4.

Won by 1½ L, 4½ L, Neck. Time: one minute 13 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by A.B. Malik.

THE KAGHAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV I & II —1100M:

Cameo (Mohammad Mustansar Billah) 8-10, Tahir Abbas 1; Jabbar Prince 9-0, Mohammad Hanif 2; Missing My Love 8-10, Mubashir Bhatti 3; Dream Secret 8-2, Aftab Chaudhry 4.

Won by Short-head, 2½ L, 2¼ L. Time: one minute 9 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Ubaid.

THE KAGHAN PLATE CLASS VII DIV III – 1,100M:

Neeli The Great (Asim Raza) 7-10, Munir Hussain 1; Zoaq-e-Yaqeen 7-12, Munir Hussain 2; After Hero 7-10, Abdul Hakeem 3; Bright Gold 7-12, Mohammad Atif 4.

Won by 3 L, 2¼ L, 4 L. Time: one minute 11 seconds. Winner trained by Tanvir Aslam.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2020