LAHORE: Long shot bay colt Raksh put up an amazing performance while outclassing his five rivals to score an easy success in the Toru Cup during the Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse in a smog-laden atmosphere here on Sunday.

Given a brilliant ride by the veteran jockey Aamir Pervez, Raksh displayed speed and stamina to beat long shot filly Sanctity by two lengths with the 80-100 favourite colt Alamgirian third during the combined handicap race run over 1,400 metres. This was Raksh's third victory on the trot.

Lahore Race Club (LRC) former steward Fawad Ahmed Cheema and owner of Sanctity gave away the cup to the winning owner.

In yet another fine display of speed and stamina, two-year-old bay filly G. One lived up to her short odds favouritism by winning the Bon Voyage Cup, a term race for two-year-old colts and fillies run over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres.

G. One beat fellow filly, Diana, by a length after being ridden by jockey Mohammad Hanif in a very careless manner while the winning jockey Aftab Chaudhry showed brilliance twist of arms and feet use to ride his mount home.

LRC steward retired Colonel Naeem Sarwar gave away the cup to winning owner Mohammad Qasim.

The October Cup, run over 1,200 metres, was won by a dark-bay filly in one of the current season’s best performance under a brilliant ride from jockey Tahir Abbas. The winner beat chestnut filly Hash Tag by over five lengths.

In this race the fine-bred filly Jamal Din Wali finished off the frame. She was erratic while entering the gate and instead of taking level start stood up in the gate. Purnoor recorded fast time over 1,200 metres covering the distance in one minute 11 1/5 seconds.

Results:

THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VII DIV V — 900M:

Black Powder (Mohammad Naveed Shahbaz) 8-2, Gul Zaib 1; After Hero 8-12, Shan 2; Paras Love 8-2, Asad Abbas 3; Masoom 8-10, Kamran II 4.

Won by ½ L, 1¼ L, 5 L. Time: 59 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Abbas Shah.

THE MONTREAUX PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV & V — 900M:

Jee Aya Nu (Hamza Kashif Butt) 8-10, Aamir Pervez 1; Khabib, 9-0, Deenar Mirwani 2; Neeli The Great 8-6, Shahzad Bhatti 3; Ayubia Princess 8-4, Mazhar Ali 4.

Won by 3 L, 2 L, 3 L. Time: 59 seconds. Winner trained by S. Butt

THE OCTOBER CUP CLASS VII DIV I & II— 1,200M:

Purnoor (Malik Salman Khalid) 8-6, Tahir Abbas 1; Hash Tag 8-10, Aftab Chaudhry 2; Husn-e-Kainaat 8-12, Bilal Ahmed 3; Champion Of Mind 8-6, Mohammad Zulfiqar 4.

Won by 5½ L, 6 L, 6 L. Time: one minute 11 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Hasnain.

THE BON VOYAGE CUP — A TERM RACE FOR TWO-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND FILLIES — 1,000M:

G. One (Mohammad Qasim) 8-5, Aftab Chaudhry 1; Diana 8-5, Mohammad Hanif 2; Baheer One 8-8, Mohammad Zulfiqar 3; Zarnaj 8-5, Aamir Pervez 4.

Won by 1 L, 6 L, 2½ L. Time: one minute. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

THE TORU KHAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV III & IV — 1,400M:

Raksh (Malik Atique Ahmed) 8-8, Aamir Pervez 1; Sanctity 9-0, Aftab Chaudhry 2; Alamgirian 8-0, Deenar Mirwani 3; Nayel 8-2, Mohammad Zulfiqar 4.

Won by 2 L, 3½ L, 3 L. Time: one minute 24 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

THE TRAINER MOHAMMAD AJAIB MEMORIAL CUP CLASS VII DIV III & IV — 1,100M:

Salam-e-Dera (Asim Raza) 8-6, Mubashir Bhatti 1; Master Prince 8-12, Deenar Mirwani 2; Zaman Sahib 7-10, Javed Iqbal 3; Pehlwan 8-12, Aftab Chaudhry 4.

Won by 4 L, 2 L, ½ L. Time: one minute 7 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tanvir Aslam.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2021