KARACHI, Jan 12: Shah Mardan Shah II Pir Pagara VII, who breathed his last in London's Wellington hospital on Tuesday night, had a passion for horse racing which spreads over half century.

His interest was visible from the fact that he was one of a leading owner of racing horses in the country and never misses the Gymkhana race meetings at the Karachi Racecourse unless he was pre-occupied, away from the city or during the period when the races remained suspended for few years by Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

The races resumed in 1989 when the Karachi Racecourse was moved to the existing location in the outskirts of the city. Founded on Sept 4, 1926, the Karachi Race Club has a chequered history.

The veteran politician used to spend some five to six hours every Sunday enjoying the festivities from his room situated adjacent to the steward's room on the third floor of the main building. He used to solve the problem amicably whenever itarises and always advocated holding free and fair races.

Pir Pagara, who was considered a fatherly figure in the horse racing fraternity, had one of the largest horse breeding studs in Sindh which rank high in the list of producing thoroughbred progenies.

Statistics reveals that horses from his stables have won the prestigious Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup three times though A A Saamne in 1973, Stride By Stride in 1985, and Fantastic Face in 2005 and Pakistan Derby four times through Early Arrival in 1984, Yes My Darling in 1986, Theek Hai in 1988 and Millioneress in 1990. In addition, he had many feathers in his cap.

After playing an active role, Pir Pagara stepped down from the patron-in-chief position of the KRC making room for his son MNA Syed Sadruddin Shah to be elected as president in 2008. His other son, Syed Ali Gohar Shah, is also an active owner of racing horses.

The same year he came to the paddock for the last time in a car to award the Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup to the winning owner of bay horse Naseeb, M. R. Hussain.A Double Birthday Cup was introduced after Pir Pagara was blessed with a daughter, Bibi Amna, coinciding with his date of birth Nov 22 seven years back. Pir Pagara, 83, attended this year's Double Birthday Cup together with her seven-year-old daughter which was held two day's ahead of schedule. He was admitted to the hospital the next day.

Another interesting feature was launch of The Twin Cup after twins Syed Hizbullah Shah Rashdi and Bibi Ayesha Shah Rashdi were born to Pir Pagara on Oct 8, 2007.

Though God has blessed him with enormous wealth, he always put his weight behind the poor. He reinstated almost all the daily wages employees upon learning that they were fired by the KRC committee due to financial constraints.

Pir Pagara used his influence by bringing hefty funds into the KRC coffers from the federal and the provincial government time and again to improve the institution's financial health.

In his death, the horse racing industry has lost a true patron of equine sports and it will take a long time to fill the vacuum.