KARACHI: Fancied chestnut horse Race finally overcomes complacency by getting the better of co-favourite mare Sweet Sereena by a length-and-a-half to land the Sizzling Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

With one exception, Race has been placed on the board four times as victory eludes him on the previous five runs.

Running alongside eight horses in the third race of the day, Race surged into lead right from the word go and maintained it crossing the winning post ahead of challenger Happiness as Sweet Sereena was placed third with Salam Kashmir occupying fourth place.

The triumph, first of the season, helped Race to made amends for the preceding losses.

At the outset, with two wins already under her belt, mare Blue Fairy obliged all and sundry making it three wins on the trot while galloping three-and-a-half lengths victory to claim the opening race.

Loot Lo was placed third beaten by a length-and-a-half while Popular Prince completed the frame further beaten by distance as the field was reduced to four horses following withdrawal of Manchester Queen.

Favourite mare Tanya inched closer towards completing double hat-trick when she galloped to commendable five and-a-half lengths victory over filly So What to win honours in the next race.

This was Tanya’s fifth straight victory in the last two months. Owned by Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara, Tanya had earlier annexed The Karachi Cup on Feb 19, Jashn-e-Baharan Cup on March 5, followed by successes on March 19 and April 2.

Princess HKM had to be content with third slot, a length-and-a-half away while Fantastic Game completed the frame.

Six-year-old chestnut horse Don Khalifa made his mark beating Sonia Again as he pleased by 10 lengths to annex the fourth and concluding race as co-favourite Galaxy finished third ahead of Sea Gold.

Earlier, Shandar Love was withdrawn from the race leaving six horses in fray.

Results:

THE SIZZLING PLATE SCALE ORDER IV, V AND VI 5 F:

Blue Fairy (Ather Abbas) 8-13, Mohammad Manzoor 1; My Beauty 7-11 (cr7-7), Mohammad Qais 2; Loot Lo 8-9 (cr8-7), Mohammad Rashid 3; Popular Prince 9-0, Mohammad Nasir 4

Won by 3½ L, 1½ L, distance. Time: One minute 5 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE SIZZLING PLATE SCALE ORDER II, III AND IV 5 F:

Tanya (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 8-0, Mohammad Sajjad 1; So What 8-4, Mohammad Manzoor 2; Princess HKM 8-10, Waheed Baran 3; Fantastic Game 8-10 (cr8-13), Mohammad Nasir 4.

Won by 5½ L, 1½ L, 5 L. Time: One minute 4 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE SIZZLING CUP SCALE ORDER VIII 4½ F:

Race (Zia-ur-Rehman) 7-11 (cr8-0), Sohail Ahmed 1; Happiness 7-10, Mohammad Qais 2; Sweet Sereena 8-12, Mohammad Sajjad 3; Salam Kashmir 9-3, Sohail Ahmed 4.

Won by 1½ L, 1¾ L, 2 L. Time: One minute 0 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE SIZZLING PLATE SCALE ORDER VII 5 F:

Don Khalifa (Sye Konain Mohammad Shah) 8-12, Nazil Hussain 1; Sonia Again 8-7, Mohammad Sajjad 2; Galaxy 8-9, Mohammad Manzoor 3; Sea Gold 8-4, Pervaiz Ali 4.

Won by 10 L, ½ L, 2½ L. Time: One minute 5 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Manzoor Baran.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2017