KARACHI: Favourite chestnut mare Afreen obliged all and sundry while galloping to half-a-length victory and land the Weekend Special Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Saturday.

The quartet comprising Afreen, Ayaash, Right Time and Don Khalifa were in contention for winning the race and ran neck-and-neck in home stretch before the former kicked off to triumph, leaving the trio tied in a photo-finish.

Ayaash was declared second by stewards with Right Time occupying third place beaten by head while Don Khalifa completed the frame two lengths away among half-a-dozen starters.

Owned by Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara and sent by seasoned trainer Mohyuddin, Afreen was piloted home by rider Waheed Baran. .

Three-year-old bay filly Dash In Queen sprinted to a facile four lengths victory over dark bay mare Saba to land the second race as favourite Mamoon from Lahore had to be content with third place followed by mare New Hope.

Dash In Queen was piloted home by M. Manzoor. Dash In Queen, Saba and Mamoon were opened favourites but later odds of Mamoon surged.

Manzoor later guided Dash In Queen’s stable mate four-year-old bay filly Swarovski to half-a-length victory over Shan-e-Kaif

in the fourth race to complete a double. Loot Lo was placed third among three horses.

Both Dash In Queen and Swarovski were owned by Syed Ismail Shah and trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

At the outset, favourite bay horse Raging Victory posted a length-and-a-half victory over bay horse Millansar to clinch the opening race.

Bay mare Mehak was settled third beaten by distance wile dark bay horse Winning Direction completed the frame.

The race witnessed a mishap when five-year-old bay horse Boogey Man lost control of speed and fell at one furlong. Though its rider Manzoor escaped injuries but the horse was destroyed.

Earlier, the field was reduced to seven following withdrawal of Clarity before the race.

Meanwhile, the next Gymkhana race meeting will be held on May 19.

Results:

THE WEEKEND SPECIAL PLATE SCALE ORDER VI, VII AND VIII 4 F:

Raging Victory (Mr. Irfan Mehdi) 7-6 Asad Aksir 1, Milansar 9-1(cr9-4) Tariq Baran 2, Mehak 7-5(cr7-12) Waheed Baran 3, Winning Direction 9-4 Aksir A 4.

Won by 1 ½ L, Dist, 6 ½ L. Time: 0.53 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Yousuf S.

THE WEEKEND SPECIAL PLATE SCALE ORDER V AND VI 4 ½ F:

Dash In Queen (Syed Ismail Shah) 8-13 M. Manzoor 1, Saba 9-0 Waheed Baran 2, Mamoon 8-10 Sohail Ahmed 3, New Hope 8-8 Nazil Hussain 4.

Won by 4 L, 5 L, ½ L. Time: 0.57 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

THE WEEKEND SPECIAL CUP SCALE ORDER IV AND V 4 1/2 F:

Afreen (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 9-0 Waheed Baran 1, Ayaash 8-0(cr9-4) Tariq Baran 2, Right Time 7-12 Mohammad Qais 3, Don Khalifa 8-5 Nazil Hussain 4.

Won by ½ L, Head, 2 L. Time: 0.58 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE WEEKEND SPECIAL PLATE SCALE ORDER III AND IV 4 ½ F:

Swarovski (Syed Ismail Shah) 9-2 M. Manzoor 1, Shan-e-Kaif 8-3 Pervaiz Ali 2, Loot Lo 7-11 Waseem 3.

Won by ½ L, Distance. Time: 0.56 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2018