KARACHI, Jan 11: Champion jockey Mohammad Essa kicked off the New Year on an impressive note when he came out with a splendid treble as all but one favourite obliged the punters in the Gymkhana race meeting at Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

The eight-race card was reduced to seven following cancellation of the third race for want of competition. The withdrawal of Sweet Girl and Ouija Board had cut the field to five runners which compelled the committee to cancel it.

In the only upset of the day, three-year-old bay filly Royal Salute II landed The New Year Cup when she edged favourite colt Giranari by a short head thus denying him to complete a double hat-trick. Punters believe that the latter was not properly handled by its new rider Fahim K.

Fahim, however, made amends when he powered three-year-old filly Blanchine to facile a six lengths’ victory over colt Group Captain to claim The Colts and Fillies Cup.

Essa galloped Khabardaar, Jadu Jantar in the back-to-back races and completed the feat by piloting home Mah-e-Noor II.

Six-year-old bay Kamyab, with no form worth backing, became the favourite and won the fifth race like a champion in exceptionally good time. Four-year-old bay colt Baaz Babaaz returned with flying colours in the last race.

Results:

THE NEW YEAR PLATE DIV IV

CLASS VII 5F:

Khabardaar (Nasrullah) 9-0, Mohammad Essa 1; Ferocity 8-3, A. Qayoom 2; Guess It’s Me 8-9, Mohammad Yousuf 3; Dream Prince 8-3, Mohammad Umar 4.

Won by 9L, 7L, 2 1/2L. Time: One minute 6 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE DIV III

CLASS VII 5F:

Jadu Jantar (Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara) 9-0, Mohammad Essa 1; Spider Man 8-4, Rehan Ahmed 2; Victory Prince 8-8, Tauheed Ali 3, Haroon Prince 8-13, M. Manzoor 4.

Won by 3 1/2L, 1/2L, 5L. Time: One minute 6 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE NEW YEAR CUP CLASS V

DIV I AND II 6F:

Royal Salute II (Qaiser Sultana) 7-7 (cr8-0), Ghulam Shabbir II 1; Giranari 8-0 (cr8-2), Fahim K 2; Mannan Prince 9-7, Mumtaz Ali 3, Dilruba 8-11, Mohammad Essa 4.

Won by S. Head, 5 1/2L, 4L. Time: One minute 17 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Channa.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE DIV II

CLASS VII 5F:

Kamyab (Mohammad Dabeer) 8-10, Mohammad Yousuf 1; Friendly Fire 8-6 (cr7-13), Shahzad Gul 2; Novaho’s Glory

8-10, Waheed 3; Al Aasia 8-3 (cr8-5), Tariq Baran 4.

Won by 3L, 1/2L, 2 1/4L. Time: One minute 4 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ameer Ahmed.

THE COLTS AND FILLIES CUP —

A HANDICAP RACE FOR

THREE-YEAR-OLD PAKISTANI

COLTS AND FILLIES 5F:

Blanchine (Syed Sadruddin Shah) 8-4, Fahim K 1; Group Captain 8-0, Mohammad Essa 2; Zigana 8-7, Arshad 3; Just As That 8-0, Wasim 4.

Won by 6L, Neck, 5 3/4L. Time: one minute 3 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Rafiq K.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE

DIV I CLASS VII 5F:

Mah-e-Noor II (Sher Mohammad) 8-2, Mohammad Essa 1; Leopard Of Arab 8-0 (cr7-7), A. Ahmed 2; Moon Dazzler 8-11, Latif 3; Striker 7-12, A. Mumtaz 4. Won by 4L, 2 1/2L, 1/2L. Time: One minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE NEW YEAR PLATE

DIV V CLASS VII 5F:

Baaz Babaaz (Syed Ali Gohar Shah) 8-13, S. Khan 1; Green Kinjher 8-4, Zaheer Ahmed 2; Rangilee 8-10, Tajammul Hasan 3; Daruwala 8-9, Rehan Ahmed 4.

Won by 1 1/4L, 3L, 7L. Time: One minute 8 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Talib Hussain.