LAHORE, Sept 24: Fancied bay colt Geo Bhakkar justified the confidence reposed in him by the connections by winning the feature event run over the sprinting distance of 900 metres during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.
Leading all the way home right from the start, Geo Bhakkar had two lengths spare over the colt Amazing Mission, who nosed out Love Minister to third position while Royal Storm completed the frame. Nine ran after the last-minute withdrawal of Jang Ju and Murad King in the sixth and last race of the day.
The five-to-two chance red-roan filly Luka Toni showed vast improvement to win the fourth race in a big field of 18 runners comprising unknown pedigree horses. At least half a dozen were good sprinters.
The race provided fans with the treat of watching a closely-contested event where two fillies and a mare measured strides and finally Luka Toni, by virtue of her early lead, won. She beat Pawan Princess by one-and-a-half lengths.
The mare Polo Lounge finished third with Muskan fourth. The riding boy S. Ammad rode the winner.
The long-shot bay gelding High Quality sprang a big surprise for favourite’s backers, winning the fifth and supporting event and cantering home half-a-length ahead of Little Smile.
Naseeb Apna Apna finished third while the half-money favourite filly Mahima completed the frame. The riding boy Munir Ahmad rode High Quality with both hands and heels, registering a well-deserved victory.
The second race was another closely-contested event. Three horses winning the first three positions passed the winning post locked together. The bay horse Farjan Prince won by a neck’s verdict from Leader’s Wing, who nosed out Shandar to third position.
Trainer Rashid Latif was the only professional to score a double. He saddled Luka Toni and Geo Bhakkar in the fourth and sixth race.
The punters shared the day’s proceedings evenly when three favourites won in a card of six events. They were: Farjan Prince (Even-money), Golden Falcon (40-to-100) and Geo Bhakkar in the second, third and sixth race, respectively. The other three races were won by horses with longer odds. They were: Lal Pari (three-to-one), Luka Toni (five-to-two) and High Quality (five-to-one). All events were contested over the sprinting distance of 900 metres.
Results:
MULTAN PLATE CLASS VII
DIV IV 900M:
Lal Pari (Mohammad Shafiq) 8-6 Khalil Vicky 1; Raftar-e-Sehar M. Hussain 2; Pukkar 7-12 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Blank Cheque 8-6 Sikander Khan 4.
Won by 3 ½ L, 1 ¾ L, ½ L. Time one minute 2 2/5 seconds.
Winner trained by M. Kamal.
MULTAN PLATE CLASS VII
DIV III 900M:
Farjan Prince (Mohammad Azam) 8-10 M. Hussain 1; Leader’s Wing 8-2 Naseer Hussain 2; Shandar 8-10 Khalil Vicky 3 and Boby Love 9-0 Majid Ali 4.
Won by Neck, Head, ¾ L. Time one minute 1 second.
Winner trained by Irfan.
MULTAN PLATE CLASS VII
DIV II 900M:
Golden Falcon (Naeem Saleem) 8-12 Majid Ali 1; Client 8-8 Fayyaz
Choudhry 2; Changer 9-0 Tariq Habib 3 and Kiss Of Love 8-1 Parvaiz Bhatty 4.
Won by 4 ½ L, 2 ½ L, 2 L. Time 59 3/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Mohammad Hanif.
MULTAN PLATE CLASS VII
DIV I 900M:
Luka Toni (Mian Mohammad Ashraf) 8-10 S. Ammad 1; Pawan Princess 8-0 Munir Ahmad 2; Polo Loung 7-9 Alam Sher 3 and Muskan 7-12 M. Zulfiqar 4.
Won by 1 ½ L, 2 L, 1 ½ L. Time 59 3/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Rashid Latif.
SAHIWAL PLATE CLASS VI
DIV III & IV 900M:
High Quality (Haroon Ali) 8-1 Munir Ahmad 1; Little Smile 8-4 Naseer Ahmad 2; Naseeb Apna Apna 8-9 Fareed Ali 3 and Mahima 8-2 Sajjad Hussain 4.
Won by ½ L, 1 ½ L, ead. Time 59 3/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Khurrum Hussain.
SAHIWAL PLATE CLASS VI
DIV II 900M:
Geo Bhakkar (Malik Bashir) 8-4 M. Jamil 1; Amazing Mission 9-0 Parvaiz Bhatty 2; Love Minister 9-0 S. Ammad 3 and Royal Storm 8-10 M. Zulfiqar 4. Won by 2 L, Neck, 2 L. Time 58 4/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Rashid Latif.
