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LAHORE, Feb 3: Syed Zaheer Ahmad’s Great Grandy proved a scourge for milers by lifting the Ghaznavi Cup during the 17th Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.
Four-to-one chance eight-year-old horse Great Grandy, ridden admirably by the jockey Khurrum Sheikh, defeated the odds-on favourite Jet Master by three lengths.
The four-year-old bay colt Jet Master was ridden by the ace jockey Shahid Rehman for the first time. Jet Master looked exhausted while running speedily over seven furlongs behind the front-runner Half Love. Jockey Khurrum Sheikh kept Great Grandy at third spot behind the two front-runners and burst into lead in the straight never allowing the two to catch up.
Think Thank finished third, after being beaten by Jet Master by a length. Gambling Princess completed the board after losing to Think Thank by a wide margin of eight-and-a-half lengths. In all, nine runners took part in the feature event. The winner clocked one minute 40 4/5 seconds over the one mile distance.
The winning owner received the Ghaznavi Cup from the Lahore Race Club (LRC) senior steward Malik Ghulam Nabi.
The one-time star jockey Salah-ud-Din II gave a splendid display of horsemanship by bringing home a popular double. He first rode the even-money roan-filly Oneeza in the first race of the day then followed it up with a fluent victory on the odds-on bay colt Bureaucrat in the following event.
Trainer Mohammad Bashir sent in two winners, Bureaucrat and Desert Dream, in the second and fourth race of the afternoon. Out of the six races, punters were obliged in three while in the other three, the favourites failed to come up to expectations.
Following are the results:
BALUCHISTAN PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION IV (B) & V (A) 6 FURS:
Oneeza (Saeed-ul-Bashar) 8-11 Salah-ud-Din (II) 1. Royal Speed 7-11 M. Jehangir 2. Zargar 8-9 Nadeem Ikram 3. Saith Bahadur 8-12 M. Nawaz (II) 4. (All 15 ran).
Won by 3/4 L, 1 3/4 L, 1 L.
Time one minute 17 2/5 seconds.
BALUCHISTAN PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION III & IV 6 FURS:
Bureaucrat (Mohammad Bashir) 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 1. Roberto Bay 8-4 Javed Iqbal 2. Divine Force 7-12 Majid Khan 3. Faheem Choice 9-0 Qasim Shah 4. (Only 12 ran).
Won by 1/2 L, 3/4 L, 3/4 L.
Time one minute 17 seconds.
Winner trained by the owner.
BALUCHISTAN PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION V (B) & VI 6 FURS:
Sea Cadet (Syed Parvez Hussain Shah) 7-10 Nadim Ikram 1. Salman Love 8-4 M. Parvez 2. New Valley 7-10 Sardar Ali 3. Lucky Rambo 8-5 Rehman Ali (II) 4. (All 15 ran).
Won by 4 1/4 L, 6 L, 3/4 L.
Time one minute 17 4/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Tauqeer Ahmad.
GHAZNAVI CUP CLASS IV & V ONE MILE:
Great Grandy (Syed Zaheer Ahmad) 8-13 Khurrum Sheikh 1. Jet Master 7-13 Shahid Rehman 2. Think Thank 7-10 Javed Iqbal 3. Gambling Princess 8-3 Majid Khan 4. (All nine ran).
Won by 3 L, 1 L, 8 1/2 L.
Time one minute 40 4/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Rashid Latif.
BALUCHISTAN PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION I & II ONE MILE:
Desert Dream (Asif Qayyum) 7-10 Majid Khan 1. King Fisher 7-10 Aamar Parvez 2. Love Moon 8-4 Mujahid Ali (II) 3. Silver Charm 7-10 Azhar Hussain 4. (All 12 ran).
Won by 2 1/4 L, 4 L, 1 1/2 L.
Time one minute 41 3/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Mohammad Bashir.
BALUCHISTAN PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION III 6 FURS
Golden Road (Usman Ghani) 8-2 Iqbal Khan 1. Blu’s Wendy 8-2 Khurrum Sheikh 2. Arooj 8-13 Kamran 3. Aao Payar Se 8-4 M. Parvez 4. (All 13 ran).
Won by 1 1/2 L, 2 3/4 L, 1/2 L.
Time one minute 15 2/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Mian Riaz.
