LAHORE, Dec 31: Two-year-old long-shot colt Mahiya sprang a major surprise by winning the feature event run over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

Mahiya, who was ridden by Fareed Ali and trained by Aleemuddin, beat even-money favourite colt Brave Heart by more than two lengths. Bay colt Dubai Prince and bay horse Big Bird completed the frame among the 15 runners.

Off to a flying start, Brave Heart had built up a commanding lead but lost stamina while entering the straight chase with 200 metres still to go. But Mahiya surged on with a strong run to challenge the front runner and collared him to win the race. This was the sixth and last of the day.

Earlier in the supporting and fifth event, the 30-to-100 favourite bay horse Unter came from behind to win the race from bay filly Maharani by about three lengths. Bay colt Singhar and filly Mirana Shaheen completed the board.

Unter was a bit slow at the start but his rider Naseer Ahmed galvanized him into action and he responded quickly to register a popular victory for owner/trainer Mohammad Siddiq.

Heavily-backed bay filly Boski was the best performer of the day in the second race.

The filly ridden by apprentice S. Moin battled courageously with Pure Power and Raftar-e-Sehar to win the race easily by a three lengths’ margin.

Her victory gave the rider his first win of the season to break his duck on the riding boys’ statistics table.

Only two favourites -- Boski and Unter -- won in a card of six events. The other four events were bagged by horses at longer odds.

Results:

SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VII

DIV IV 900M:

Lion Horse (Mohammad Rafiq Khan) 8-10, Ali Raza 1; Easy Load 7-4, M. Jahangir 2; Blank Cheque 9-0, Mazhar Ali 3; Sudden Attack 8-6, Bilal Ahmed 4.

Won by Short-head, 1 ¼ L, ¾ L. Time one minute 1 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VII

DIV III 900M:

Boski (Khawaja Asif Hassan) 9-0, S. Moin 1; Pure Power 9-0, A. Wahab 2; Raftar-e-Sehar 8-6, Zameer 3; My One 9-0, Ali Raza 4.

Won by 3 L, 3 ¼ L, 2 ¾ L. Time one minute 0 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Muzaffar Ali.

SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VII

DIV II 900M:

Independence Day (Mian Hamid Mahmood) 8-8, Bilal Ahmed 1; Bobby Love 8-10, Mazhar Ali 2; Anarkali 8-7, Sajjad Hussain 3; Sohna Murad 8-0, Ali Raza 4.

Won by 2L, ¾ L, 6 L. Time one minute 0 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Choudhry Khurram Hussain.

SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VII

DIV I 900M:

Best Owner (Saeed Ahmed) 8-6, M. Wasim 1; Candidate 8-10, Atif Javed 2; Fruitful 8-6, Bilal Ahmed 3; Alpha Juliet 8-0, Naseer Ahmed 4.

Won by 5 L, ¾ L, 2 ¾ L. Time one minute 0 seconds. Winner trained by Aamir Azad.

CHAKWAL PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Unter (Mohammad Siddiq) 8-12, Naseer Ahmed 1; Maharani 8-6, M. Wasim 2; Singhar 8-10, Bilal Ahmed 3; Mirana Shaeen 7-8, Munir Ahmed 4.

Won by 2 ¾ L, 1 ¼ L, 1 ½ L. Time one minute 7 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

CHAKWAL PLATE CLASS VI

DIV 1 1,000M:

Mahiya (Chaudhry Asghar Ali) 8-10, Fareed Ali 1; Brave Heart 9-0, Majid Ali 2; Dubai Prince 9-0, A. Ammad 3; Big Bird 8-12, Azhar Hussain 4.

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