KARACHI: Celebrated bay horse Big Bravo atoned for successive defeats by capturing the New Year Cup during the winter Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

The former hat-trick performer of Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup who had to be content with second place in the same event last week, edged out front-runner War It Is by a length-and-a-half to open the New Year on a winning note.

Jockey Aftab Chaudhry specially came from Lahore to ride home the winning horse.

Big Faith settled third and followed by Hi Honey on board among five starters.

Owned by Ali Raza Zia, the winner was sent by trainer Zia-ur-Rehman.

Gift of God lifted the day’s feature event by getting the better of Balochistan as he pleased by six lengths in the next race. The victorious horse from the stables of Farooq Lango and trained by Ghulam Shabbir II, while it was piloted home by rider Mohammad Sajjad.

The trio ended the day on a high with a double, their other winner being Shabnam who got the better of Princess of Hope by neck in the second race.

At the outset, Awaz-e-Sehar defeated Who Is Next by half-a-length to claim the first race.

Fancied Thomas obliged punters after imposing to a five-length victory over Recovery to win the third race and so did Justify in the following race.

Results:

THE NEW YEAR PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII (MAIDENS) — 4 F:

Awaz-e-Sehar (Zia-ur-Rehman) 8-13, Mohammad Ramzan 1; Who is Next 8-13, Safdar Hussain 2; Amazing Boy 8-3, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Jungle Queen 8-3, Nazil Hussain 4. , .

Won by ½ L, 5 L, 1½ L. Time: 0.52 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Zia-ur-Rehman.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:

Shabnam (Farooq Lango) 8-4, Mohammad Sajjad 1; Princess of Hope 9-0, Mohammad Ramzan 2; Usman Chandiwala 7-10, Tariq Baran 3; Sassy Gold 7-12, Waheed Baran 4.

Won by Neck, 1½ L, ½ Time: 0.52 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE SCALE ORDER VI & VIII — 4½ F:

Thomas (Fasihuddin Ghouri and Islamuddin Shaikh) 8-12, Mohammad Ramzan 1; Recovery 9-0, Majid Ali II 2; Meri Chahat 8-12, Mohammad Sajjad 3; Well Wisher 8-2, Asad Aksir 4.

Won by 5 L, 1 L, S. Head. Time: 0.58 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Hanif.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE SCALE ORDER V & VI — 4½ F:

Justify (Zainab Ali and Aariz Nawaz) 8-9, Mohammad Manzoor 1; New Class 8-10, Asad Aksir 2; Linda 7-12, Mohammad Ramzan 3; Haseena-e-Arab 8-7, Adnan Khan 4.

Won by 2½ L, 2 ½ L, 1½ L. Time: 0.58 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Sharif.

THE NEW YEAR CUP — A HANDICAP RACE FOR PAK HORSES – ROUND BEND — 6 F:

Big Bravo (Ali Raza Zia) 10-0, Aftab Chaudhry 1; War It Is 8-2, Mohammad Manzoor 2; Big Faith 7-0, Asad Aksir 3; Hi Honey 7-0, Zaki Zakir 4.

Won by 1½ L, 5 L, 5 L. Time: One minute 15 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Zia-ur-Rehman.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE SCALE ORDER I, II & III — 4½ F:

Gift of Gold (Farooq Lango) 8-7, Mohammad Sajjad 1; Balochistan Queen 8-0, Asad Aksir 2; Abdullah Princess 8-0, Zaki Zakir 3; Smart Girl 9-0, Mohammad Ramzan 4 .

Won by 6 L, 6 L, S. Head. Time: 0.56 2/5. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2021