LAHORE, Aug 13: Three-year-old bay colt Kiss Of Luck opened his new season's campaign successfully when he blazed his way to victory in the prestigious Jashn-i-Azadi Cup, which was run over 1400 metres during the Independence Day Celebrations horse-race meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.

Ridden by Atif Javed, the 5-4 joint favourite, Kiss Of Luck won by six lengths from even-money favourite gelding, Zanjeer, the mount of Shahid Rehman by six lengths. The filly Noor under M. Zeeshan finished third, a distance further behind among six runners.

By his easy victory, Kiss Of Luck underlined his owner's claim as the fastest colt among the middle distance runners in Lahore.

Shortly before the race, the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards dealt a big blow to Zanjeer by raising his handicap weight-scale by two pounds, sending it up to 9-6 from 9-4 and bringing down, Kiss Of Luck's weight by two pounds from 9-2 to 9-0. That gave a further four-pound advantage to Kiss Of Luck in the handicap.

The LRC stewards also reduced by five pounds the weight of Hamza Prince in the handicap bringing down from 8-8 to 8-3 in the fourth race.

The decision was taken on a petition submitted by the owner. After the announcement of the drop in handicap, Hamza Prince was installed favourite to be defeated by Gulf Line. That proved that a donkey cannot win even if given a handicap chance.

A race earlier, the bay filly, Discovery produced a scintillating burst of speed to land the Independence Day Cup contested over 1200 metres. She beat another filly Simbi by a big margin of six lengths.

Colt The Senator finished third two lengths further behind.

Discovery, who gave Shahid Rehman his lone winner of the day, ran unchallenged in the field of a dozen runners.

In the concluding event of the day, the bay mare Princess Afaq stormed home to win the August Cup defeating First Dream by three lengths.

The Lahore Summer Meeting was held as part of the 60th National Independence Day celebrations in progress throughout the country.

The LRC stewards came down hard on the riding boy Majid Ali, who did not allow his mount, Do Or Die to run on merit.

A lesser light among the riding boys, Shakeel Mahmood, stole the show on the auspicious occasion, by riding home three winners. He first strode to victory, Stride To Moment edging out Mannan Prince in the third race to get a short-head verdict in photo-finish.

In the following race he piloted home Gulf Line defeating Hamza Prince. Shakeel rounded up his day with a smart victory on Princess Afaq in the August Cup in the concluding event. Apprentice riding boy Naseer Ahmed, who is having a good season, rode home two winners, Miss Mano and Dashing Paradise in the first and second race, respectively. Chaudhry Khurram Hussain excelled among trainers. He sent out two winners, Miss Mano and Princess Adaq in the opener and the concluding event.

Results:

AUGUST PLATE CLASS VII

DIV IV 1000M:

Miss Mano (Haroon Ali) 7-4 Naseer Ahmed 1. Leader's Wing 9-0 Farhan Butt 2. Dillagi 8-10 Tariq Habib 3. Three In One 8-4 Majid Ali 4.

Won by 6 L, 3/4 L, 1 3/4 L. Time one minute 7 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Chaudhry Khurram Hussain.

AUGUST PLATE CLASS VII

DIV III 1000M:

Dashing Paradise 8-8 Naseer Ahmed 1. Shah Rani 8-8 Tariq habib 2. Simoom 7-4 Sajjad Hussain 3. Tosca 8-4 Javed Iqbal 4.

Won by Neck, Neck, Neck. Time one minute 6 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by S. Butt.

AUGUST PLATE CLASS VII

DIV II 1000M:

Stride To Moment 8-2 Shakeel Mahmood 1. Mannan Prince 8-4 Atif Javed 2. Blu's Wendy 8-0 Saqib 3. Armida 8-12 Khalil Vicky 4.

Won by Short-head, 3 L, 4 1/4 L. Time one minute 4 4/5 seconds. Winner trained byImran.

INDEPENDENCE DAY PLATE

CLASS II 1200M:

Gulf Line (Shahid Mahmood) 8-0 Shakeel Mahmood 1. Hamza Prince 8-3 Sajjad Hussain 2. Royal Victory 8-12 A. Alam 3. Pretty Princess 7-8 M. Zeeshan 4.

Won by 2 1/2 L, 5 L, Head. Time one minute 17 seconds. Winner trained by Aleemuddin.

INDEPENDENCE DAY CUP

CLASS V DIV I 1200M:

Discovery (Farukh Shehzad Malik) 8-8 Shahid Rehman 1. Simbi 9-0 A. Imran 2. The Senator 7-12 M. Zeeshan 3. Jung Frau 9-0 M. Atif 4.

Won by 6 L, 2 L, 1 L. Time one minute 16 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

JASHN-I-AZADI CUP CLASS IV

& III 1400M:

Kiss Of Luck (Atif Javed) 9-0 Atif Javed 1. Zanjeer 9-6 Shahid Rehman 2. Noor 8-2 m. Zeeshan 3. Royal Fish 7-10 Sajjad Hussain 4.

Won by 6 L, Distance, 3/4 L. Time one minute 28 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

AUGUST CUP CLASS VII DIV I 1000M:

Princess Afaq (Iftikhar-uz-Zaman) 7-10 Shakeel Mahmood 1. First Dream 7-6 Sajjad Hussain 2. Mama Mia 7-10 Majid Ali 3. Rana Choice 8-10 M. Wasim Khan 4.

Won by 3 L, 4 L, 1 1/4 L. Time one minute 4 seconds. Winner trained by Chaudhry Khurram Hussain.