KARACHI: Ace rider Mohammad Sajjad stole limelight with a treble, including annexing the September Cup, in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Backed by connection fancied four-year-old colt War Drums galloped to a two-length victory over Gladiator to oblige punters. It may be mentioned that War Drums completed the frame in the last outing on Sept 6.

Mare Meri Chahat fell third seven lengths behind while Darshan completed the board another four lengths away among 10 starters.

The triumph helped Sajjad complete hat-trick after having earlier ridden mare Arabian Queen to maiden success in the opening race and mare Haseena-e-Arab home in the next. Both Arabian Queen and Haseena-e-Arab sent by trainer Ghulam Channa were ranked outsiders and created quite a stir.

With two wins under his belt, favourite bay horse Piyara Sayeen stretched his winning run by getting the better of mare Enable by four lengths to land the day’s feature event top scale order I, II, III and IV with regular rider Asad Aksir n the saddle.

Sweet Victory and Parachuter followed the top two in the same order in a field of five horses.

Fast chasing second favourite Starka come from behind to stun favourite Risky by two-and-a-half lengths.

Results:

THE SEPTEMBER PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII (MAIDEN) — 4 F:

Arabian Queen (Ghulam Jilani) 7-10, Mohammad Sajjad 1; Take Over 9-0, Yousuf Ikram 2; Little Darling 7-10 (cr8-0), Safdar Hussain 3; Pachino 8-10 (cr8-5), Zohaib Qamar 4.

Won by 2 L, 4 L, 1¾ L. Time: 0.53 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.

THE SEPTEMBER PLATE: SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:

Haseena-e-Arab (Mumtaz Mirza) 8-1, Mohammad Sajjad 1; No Try 9-0 (cr8-7), Ali Raza II 2; Paroo 7-10, Zaki Zakir 3; Hawwaam 8-10 (cr9-2), Tariq Baran 4.

Won by 5 L, 4 L, 7 L. Time: 0.52 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.

THE SEPTEMBER CUP SCALE ORDER VI & VII — 4 F:

War Drums (Syed Ismail Shah and Hammad Fikhri) 8-12, Mohammad Sajjad 1;Gladiator 8-9 (cr8-4), Safdar Hussain 2; Meri Chahat 9-0, Wasim 3; Darshan 7-8 (cr7-3), Ramzan 4..

Won by 2 L, 7 L, 4 L. Time: 0.51 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam SAhabbir II.

THE SEPTEMBER PLATE SCALE ORDER IV & V — 4½ F:

Starka (Waqas) 8-11, Wasim 1; Risky 8-7, Mohammad Ramzan 2; Soldier Queen 9-0, Youuf Ikram 3; Piyara Faisal 8-13 (cr9-2), Tariq Baran 4.

Won by 2½ L, 5 L, 1¾ L. Time: 0. 58 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE SEPTEMBER PLATE SCALE ORDER I, II, III & IV — 4 ½ F:

Piyara Sayeen (Mohammad Pervez) 7-4, Asad Aksir 1; Enable 8-9, Tariq Baran 2; Sweet Victory 9-11, Wasim 3; Parachuter 9-3, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by 4 L, 7 L, 5 L. Time: 0.58 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tanvir Abbasi.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2020