KARACHI: Fancied three-year old filly Queen Of Spades edged co-favourite colt Torrent by half-a-length to win the Fantastic Face Stakes in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Rider Safdar Hussain tactfully rode the filly and shot into the lead in the home stretch to make amends of last month’s Kashmir Day Cup loss. She clocked one minute 34 seconds for the seven furlongs distance.

Owned by Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara, the victorious filly was sent by trainer Mohyuddin.

Gift Of Gold occupied third place on board beaten by a length-and-a-quarter while Eye Of The Tiger completed the frame five lengths away.

Rank outsider mare Flying Lady pulled off an upset, beating mare New Class by short head in a photo-finish verdict to clinch the fifth and supporting event.

Faster Than You and Wild Fire followed the two in same order among seven contestants.

Wild Fire and debutant Angel Love were opened co-favourites when the betting for the last race commenced.

The day began on a happy note for race-goers when mare Little Darling obliged all and sundry by winning the opening race.

With rider Safdar Hussain in the saddle, she got the better off Jhoom Sayeen by one-and-three-quarter of a length.

Bay mare Holly Dolly stretched her winning run imposing to a length-and-a-half victory over Faster with rider Mohammad Alam astride.

Three year old favourite colt Night Vision opened his account by galloping to six-and-a-half victory over Well Wisher to annex the third race.

Results:

THE FANTASTIC FACE PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:

Little Darling (Mohammad Owais Abro and Mohammad Ayan Abro) 8-10, Safdar Hussain 1; Jhoom Sayeen 8-6, Waheed Baran 2; Paris 8-6 Yousuf Ikram 3; Sassy Gold 7-12, Asad Aksir 4.

Won by 1¾ L, 4½ L, 1½ L. Time: 0.52 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nadeem Abro.

THE FANTASTIC FACE PLATE SCALE ORDER VI & VII — 4 F:

Holly Dolly (Ehtisham Malik and Waiz Malik) 7-12, Mohammad Alam 1; Faster 8-6 (8-1), Mohammad Ramzan 2; Hello My Darling 9-0 (8-9), Adnan Khan 3; Experience 8-8, Mohammad Manzoor 4.

Won by 1½ L, 1½ L, ½ L. Time: 0.51 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Aslam.

THE FANTASTIC FACE PLATE SCALE ORDER V & VI — 4 F:

Night Vision (Irfan Mehdi) 8-6, Yousuf Ikram 1; Well Wisher 8-10, Mohammad Alam 2; Soldier Star 8-8, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Recovery 8-13, Kashif Qamar 4.

Won by 6½ L, 5 L, ¾ L. Time: 0.50 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE FANTASTIC FACE STAKES — A HANDICAP RACE FOR THREE AND FOUR YEARS OLD PAK COLTS & FILLIES — 7 F:

Queen of Spades (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-2, Sohail Ahmed 1; Torrent 9-0, Safdar Hussain 2; Gift of Gold 9-0, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Eye of the Tiger 8-5, Waheed Baran 4.

Won by ½ L, 1¼ L, 5 L. Time: One minute 34 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE FANTASTIC FACE PLATE SCALE ORDER II, III & IV — 4½ F:

Flying Lady (Shakeel Z. Ahmed) 9-10, Riaz Ahmed 1; New Class 7-12, Adnan Khan 2; Faster Than You 7-10, Ali Raza II 3; Wild Fire 8-2, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by S. Head, 1½ L, 1½ L. Time: 0.57 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nazir.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2021