LAHORE, Feb 27: Riaz-ul-Haq Qureshi distinguished himself among owners by fielding three winners in a card of six events during the mid-week Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse Wednesday.
His first winner was the 30 to 100 favourite bay colt Bach View in the second event. In the following race, his bay filly Lucky Lass registered a surprise victory. That was followed by dark-bay colt Beena Roy Baby’s narrow win in the fifth race.
Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards cancelled the fourth race before it was run, reducing the card to five events, all contested over the sprinting distance of six furlongs.
The feature event was claimed by a long-shot chestnut Born Champion, who beat the colt Zargar by about two lengths.Gelding Crysler and another colt Gold Hi Gold completed the frame.
In all, 16 competed in this sixth and last race of the afternoon. The short-odds fancied colt Cape Town not only took a slow start but also trailed behind the field throughout the distance only to finish among also ran.
After the race ended, punters staged a big demonstration demanding the event to be declared null and void. But their protest bore no effect and the race was cleared.
Earlier, dark-bay colt Paddock Fancy, ridden smartly by jockey Shahid Rehman, emerged as the best performer of the day. Backed confidently at 20 to 100, the colt owned by Mian Mahir Ahmad, defeated another colt Little Master by three lengths in the opener.
Trainer Akhtar Mir had a successful afternoon as he saddled two winners in Bach View and Lucky Lass. Only two fancied animals obliged the backers of odds-on favourites.
Meanwhile the computerised Tote-Totalisator, at the Lahore Race Club (LRC), went out of order last Monday but could not be made operational even on Wednesday despite the best efforts of the concerned staff!
The totalisator stopped functioning due to failure of an electronic device which is not available in Pakistan.
The LRC had sent a SOS to the totalisator-manufacturing firm of England, The Data Tote, which had installed the system a few years ago, to send the device which acccording to reports was received on Wednesday but could not be replaced on time for Wednesday’s races.
Following are the results:
BADAMI BAGH PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VI & VII (A) 6 FURS:
Paddock Fancy (Mian Mahir Ahmad) 8-12 Shahid Rehman 1. Little Master 8-11 Khurrum Sheikh 2. Fiji 8-0 M. Imran 3. Dillagi 9-0 Tehseen Hussain 4. (All 13 ran).
Won by 3 L, 3 L, 2 L.
Time one minute 19 seconds.
Winner trained by A. B. Malik.
BADAMI BAGH PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VIII (B) 6 FURS:
Bach View (Riaz-ul-Haq Qureshi) 8-7 Zulfiqar Hussain 1. Nijinsky 7-12 M. Jehangir 2. Last Love 8-10 Qamar Zaman 3. Lucky Love 7-10 Iqbal Khan 4. (All 18 ran).
Won by 1 1/4 L, 6 1/4 L, 1 1/2 L.
Time one minute 20 1/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Akhtar Mir.
BADAMI BAGH PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VII & VIII (A) 6 FURS:
Lucky Lass (Riaz-ul-Haq Qureshi) 7-13 Mahmood Ali 1. Den See 8-8 Majid Khan 2. Majestic Prince 8-4 Iqbal Khan 3. Mehrab 8-3 Mujahid Ali (II) 4. (All 18 ran).
Won by 2 1/2 L, 3 1/4 L, Neck.
Time one minute 19 4/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Akhtar Mir.
BADAMI BAGH PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION V (C) & VI 6 FURS:
Cancelled before it was run.
Badami Bagh Plate Class VII Division V (B) 6 Furs:
BEENA ROY BABY (RIAZ-UL-HAQ QURESHI) 8-5 ZULFIQAR HUSSAIN 1. ROYAL GAMBLE 7-12 Qamar Zaman 2. Moment To Moment 8-0 M. Hussain 3. Pistol Pete 8-1 A. Aziz 4. (All 18 ran).
Won by Neck, 4 3/4 L, 1 1/2 L.
Time one minute 19 1/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.
BADAMI BAGH PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION IV & V 6 FURS:
Born Champion (Choudhry Zeeshan Ahmad) 8-1 Nazir Ahmad 1. Zargar 8-8 M. A. Khan 2. Crysler 8-7 Qasim Shah 3. Gold Hi Gold 7-12 A. Imran 4. (All 16 ran).
Won by 1 3/4 L, 1 L, 4 1/4 L.
Time one minute 19 4/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Haji Badar.
