LAHORE: Three-year-old bay colt Show Card enthralled race-goers with a magnificent display of speed to register an emphatic win in the feature event on the opening day of the 2015-16 Lahore racing season at the Racecourse here on Sunday.

The feature event, the Moj-e-Bahar Plate class VI division II and III contested over 1,000 metres, was being billed as a contest between three notable contenders but it turned out a one-horse show as 3-2 favourite Show Card led from the start to defeat bay colt Wind Chaser by a big margin of nine lengths.

Dark-bay filly Al Fajre and bay filly Chand Pari completed the frame. The 80-100 favourite Sabre Queen pulled up lame and ran off the frame among 13 runners.

Ridden by jockey Bilal Ahmed, the winner was trained by Tauqir Ahmed. He clocked one minute 0 3/5 seconds over 1,000 metres.

The glamour and the glory of the equine sports was the positive aspect of the scene as the season’s first day’s programme began on a silent note in view of the sanctity of the holy month of Ramazan. A rare form of sportsmanship was witnessed among the winners as well the losers, who presented a sense of responsibility to maintain sanctity of the holy month amidst a sizable mature attendance.

A card of six events was gone through smoothly and races conducted accurately on time scheduled to facilitate the racing fans return home before the sunset.

Results:

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV — 900M:

Assailant Again (Babar Iqbal) 9-0, Tahir Abbas 1; Geo Meray Lal 7-10, M. Sajjad 2; Bulbul Again 8-6, Majid Ali II 3; Jay Cutlier 7-4, Sunny Babu 4. Won by 1¼ L, 3½ L, Short-head. Time 59 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VII DIV III — 900M:

Amratsaria (Khawaja Asif Hasan) 8-6, Alam Sher 1; Black Shadow 8-8, M. Hanif 2; Lovely Shehzadi 8-8, Aftab Chaudhry 3; Buy And Sell 9-0, Sunny Babu 4. Won by 2¼ L, 6 L, 1½ L. Time 56 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VII DIV III — 900M:

Honey The Great (Mohammad Asif Butt) 8-8, Aamir Pervez 1; Qadardan 8-10, Alam Sher 2; Victory Malik 9-0, Sunny Babu 3; Tora Rose 8-8, Tajammul Hussain 4. Won by 4 L, 1 ¾ L, 1 ½ L. Time 55 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Salahuddin.

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VII DIV II — 900M:

Well In Time (Ameer Haider) 7-10, M. Hanif 1; Raja Gee 8-6, Aftab Chaudhry 2; Baby Doll 8-10, Shakeel Mahmood 3. Aboor 8-4, Qadeer Ahmed 4.
Won by Neck, 1 L, 1¼ L. Time 56 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Liaquat Ali.

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VII DIV I & II — 900M:

Tarteeb (Khizar Nawaz) 9-4, A. Raza 1; Angel Eye 8-10, Aftab Chaudhry 2; Mah-e-Doura 8-6, Shakeel Mahmood 3; White Pearl 8-12, Bilal Ahmed 4. Won by 3¾ L, 5 L, 1¼ L. Time 55 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Latif Butt.

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VI DIV II & III — 1,000M:

Show Card (Zaheer Aslam) 8-6, Bilal Ahmed 1; Wind Chaser 8-10, Shakeel Mahmood 2; Sabre Queen 9-0, Aftab Chaudhry 3; Chand Pari 7-4, M. Sajjad 4. Won by 9 L, 1 L, ½ L. Time one minute 0 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tauqir Ahmed.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2015

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