LAHORE. Dec 28: Three-year-old fancied filly Dixie outclassed her rivals by galloping home to an easy success in the prestigious Jinnah Cup at the Racecourse on Sunday.

A large holiday crowd of equine sports connoisseurs thronged the Racecourse in spite of the poor visibility due to foggy day to see the cup race named after the Father of the nation.

Dixie, a daughter of Putra out-of-Noon’s Pride, owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon and trained by Haji Fazal Hadi, had by far the best credentials in the small field of six contenders.

This was Dixie’s fifth straight win. Ridden by ace-jockey Shahid Rehman, she beat the front running colt, Punjabi by two lengths.

The winner clocked one minute 25 2/5 seconds over 1400 metres, a timing only a faction less than the record of one minute 25 1/5 seconds set up by Munir Dar’s gelding, Millennium Count in 2003.

The owner received the cup from the Lahore race Club (LRC) chairman Tariq Aziz amidst thunderous applause. This was the fourth race of the day.

In the supporting and third race, fancied filly Rags To Riches justified her star billing winning the Kalar Kahar Plate class IV division II and III over 1,400 metres.

Ridden by jockey Aamir Pervez, the filly pipped front-running Tipu Sultan at the finishing post by half a length.

The filly owned by Syed Tasweer Hussain was trained by leading trainer Sohail Aziz.

At one stage when Tipu Sultan was heading the field with hardly 100 metres still to go his rider, A. Imran, looked sure that he had almost won the race, but in the meantime Rags To Riches came from outside with flying strides to snatch the victory. Vendetta and Princess Ginza completed the frame.

Jockeys Shahid Rehman and Aamir Pervez and trainer Haji Fazal Hadi shared the day’s honours when each scored a double.

Shahid rode Jinnah Cup winner Dixie and Barray Lal while Aamir Pervez partnered Rags To Riches and Sun City.

Haji Fazal Hadi sent out two winners — Pick Of The Day and Dixie.

The veteran rider and champion jockey of yesteryear Salahuddin staged a comeback and rode his first mount this season. He finished third on filly Philogyny in the Jinnah Cup.

Four favourites obliged the punters when a seven-event card was gone through. The favourites were: Pick Of The Day (70 to 100), Dixie (30 to 100), Red Carpet (70 to 100) and Barray Lal (30 to 100), who won the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th race of the day. The other three events were bagged by long shots.

Results:

RAHIM YAR KHAN PLATE

CLASS V DIV II 1,300M:

Geo Super (Khawaja Asif Hassan) 8-2, Azhar Hussain 1; High Jet 9-0, Aamir Pervez 2; Deedawar 8-2, Shakeel Mahmood 3;

Iconic 8-5, Ali Raza 4.

Won by 1 ½ L, 3 ½ L, 2 ¼ L. Time one minute 22 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Abdul Rasheed.

RAHIM YAR KHAN PLATE

CLASS V DIV I 1,300M:

Pick Of The Day (K.A. Ahmed) 8-5, Shakeel Mahmood 1; Reborn 8-10, Aamir Pervez 2; Heaven’s Heart 8-10, Naseer Ahmed 3; Royal Gesture 8-4, Anjum 4.

Won by 3 L, Neck, 3 L. Time one minute 21 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

KALAR KAHAR PLATE CLASS IV

DIV II & III 1,400M:

Rags To Riches (Syed Tasweer Hussain) 8-6, Aamir Pervez 1; Tipu Sultan 9-4, A. Imran 2; Vendetta 8-0, M. Zeeshan 3; Princess Ginza 7-8, Azhar Hussain 4.

Won by ½ L, 1 ½ L, Neck. Time one minute 28 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

JINNAH CUP (A TERM RACE FOR

PAKISTAN-BRED THREE-YEAR-OLD COLTS AND FILLIES) 1,400M:

Dixie (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 8-11, Shahid Rehman 1; Punjabi 9-0, Khalil Vicky 2; Philogyny 8-11, Salahuddin 3; Future Perfect 7-12, Bilal Ahmed.

Won by 2 L, Distance, 1 ¾ L. Time one minute 25 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III & IV 1,000M:

Red Carpet (Khawaja M. Atif) 9-2, A. Imran 1; Dream Act 8-8, M. Wasim Khan 2; Mama Mia 7-4, Naseer Ahmed 3; Murad The Great 7-4, Sajjad Hussain 4.

Won by 1 ½ L, 3 ¼ L, 3 ¼ L. Time one minute 4 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Barray Lal (Aamir Raza Khan) 8-10, Shahid Rehman 1; Cleopatra 9-0, A. Imran 2; Fakhar-e-Sialkot 9-2, Anjum 3; Dream Memories 9-0, M. Wasim Khan 4.

Won by 3 ¼ L, 1 ½ L, 1 ¾ L. Time one minute 2 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Allah Bakhsh Malik.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I 1,000M:

Sun City (Chaudhry Sagheer Hussain) 8-4, Aamir Pervez 1; Rania 9-2, Ali Raza 2; Anjleena Juli 8-10, Shakeel Mahmood 3; Al Ain 8-2, M. Zeeshan 4.

Won by 1 ½ L, 2 ½ L, 4 ½ L. Time one minute 2 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.