KARACHI, March 31: The racing programme of the Winter Gymkhana Meeting ended amidst chaos and confusion when only one race was registered in a card of six events at the Karachi Racecourse Sunday afternoon.

The programme had, in fact, started on a wrong foot when it was announced that the last event on the programme was cancelled. The announcement forced a delay by 30 minutes.

The opening race began minus one Prism Of Life and the small field was reduced to only six contenders. Ashiq Ali replaced M.Yousuf, who was already going eight pounds heavier on the bay horse Clever Cat.

Yousuf was instead asked to take over the reins of Sher Khan which was to carry only seven stones and 10 pounds on his back and now going 10 pounds heavier on the bay horse which was to carry only 7-10 on his back.

Whitney Houston with Shafi Mohammad aboard was installed as the firm favourite with Smart Boy (M. Faiz) as second best.

Clever Cat, however, won the race in a photo-finish from Whitney Houston with Sher Khan edging out Smart Boy for the third spot.

Immediately after the race, Shafi protested to the Stewards that Ashiq was guilty of bumping, boring and crossing from one furlong mark right up to the 100 metres away from the winning post.

Ashiq, in the meantime, collapsed in the Jockeys Room after getting himself weighed in.

The protest was upheld and it was announced that Clever Cat had been disqualified from the race and first place was then awarded to Whitney Houston.

But instead of chucking out Clever Cat, the bay horse was declared second behind Whitney Houston with Sher Khan grabbing the third spot from Smart Boy.

Nevertheless, no action was take again Sher Khan. Yousuf was accused of interfering with the running of Smart Boy throughout the race which nearly threw M.Faiz off his chestnut gelding.

To make matters worse, Little Sunny with Amir Ali in the saddle, won the second race in a start to finish bid, chased all the way over the five furlong sprint by Simple Prayer and Lucky Love with the raging favourite Ever Green, after stumbling twice settled down and completed the frame in a field with 14 runners vying for the top honours.

Before the race ended, it was announced that the race was cancelled. The racing fans were completely shocked out of their wits as the race was won hands down.

However, the stewards did not revise their earlier decision which angered the bookmakers who later pulled down the shutters for the afternoon with three more events scheduled. Although the bookmakers refusing to take bets, the third event was held. Always In won the race with Zabyan and Noor-un-Nisa finishing second and third respectively among 16 runners. But no one was interested.

With no runners coming out to participate in the fourth race, chaos and confusion reigned supreme. As time went by, the fans drifted away for their homes disappointed to the core.

When the stewards are asked to explain why Clever Cat was installed into the second spot when it was announced that the horse was disqualified from the race, they said it was wrongly announced. They added that the protest was upheld and the word disqualified was wrongly stated.

Asked why no action was taken against M.Yousuf, they said they would look into the matter.

Following were the results:

KARACHI PLATE CLASS IX DIV G-IV 5F