Gladiator returns to winning ways on day of upsets
KARACHI: Unknown pedigree chestnut horse Gladiator made amends for two successive loses by galloping to a four-and-a-half length victory over favourite mare King Queen in the Equinox Cup during the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.
Gladiator had to be content with second place in the last two meetings including the September Cup before returning to winning ways.
Bay horse Soldier Star occupied third place on board beaten by five lengths followed by Secret Of Life among eight starters.
Gladiator was piloted home by rider Safdar Hussain and partnered by trainer Mohammad Irfan.
Senior rider Zaki Zakir, however, stole the limelight with a brace guiding fancied Thunder King and rank outsider Starka to victories.
With Defence Day Cup under its belt, three-year colt Thunder King defeated mare Galileo Lady as he pleased by six lengths for a repeat finish while mare Starka pulled of an upset imposing to four lengths victory over Enable as favourite mare Abdullah Princess settled third followed by Parachuter among five contestants.
At the outset, punters suffered as form horses bit the dust in the first two races.
With no form worth dark bay horse Wifi created quite a stir registering two lengths victory over Who Is Next. First favourite Paroo finished off the frame while second favourite Petra completed the board.
Mare No Try shocked favourite Darshan with a facile eight lengths victory to present new owner Fasihuddin Ghouri with maiden win.
Results:
THE EQUINOX PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:
Wifi (Yasmeen Azhar) 8-6, Mohammad Sajjad 1; Who is Next 9-0 (cr8-9), Safdar Hussain 2; Amazing Boy 8-6, Wasim 3; Petra 8-7, Waheed Baran 4.
Won by 2 L, Head, 1¼ L. Time: 0.54 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ghulam Shabbir II.
THE EQUINOX PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:
No Try (Fasihuddin Ghouri ) 9-4, Tariq Baran 1; Darshan 9-0 (cr8-9), Safdar Hussain 2; Hawwaam 8-8, Wasim 3; Arabian Queen 8-10, Mohammad Sajjad 4.
Won by 2 L, 3 L, 4 L. Time: 0.53 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Hanif.
THE EQUINOX CUP SCALE ORDER VII — 4 F:
Gladiator (Rana Jawwad Sarwar) 9-0, Safdar Hussain 1; King Queen 8-8, Mohammad Sajjad 2; Soldier Star 8-9, Ali Raza II 3; Secret Of Life 8-13, Zohaib Qamar 4.
Won by 4½ L, 5 L, 8 L. Time: 0.51 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Irfan.
THE EQUINOX PLATE SCALE ORDER IV, V & VI — 4½ F:
Thunder King (Athar Abbas) 8-9, Zaki Zakir 1; Galileo Lady 7-7, Asad Aksir 2; Piyara Faisal 8-6 (cr7-13), Mohammad Ramzan 3; Dhannak 9-0, Nazil Hussain 4.
Won by 6 L, 8 L, ¾ L. Time: 0.57 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nazir.
THE EQUINOX PLATE SCALE ORDER II, III & IV — 4½ F:
Starka (Waqas) 7-4, Zaki Zakir 1; Enable 9-0, Tariq Baran 2; Abdullah Princess 9-4, Sohail Ahmed 3; Parachuter 9-2, Mohammad Sajjad 4.
Won by 4 L, 6 L, ½ L. Time: 0.57 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.
Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2020