LAHORE, Aug 2: Fancied bay filly, Sapna, lived up to the confidence reposed in her, winning the feature event over the sprinting distance of 900m during the day/night Lahore Gymkhana races on Wednesday evening.
The filly opened a 30 to 100 favourite but her odds eased to even-money when two other fillies Shah Pari and Rana Choice were backed by connections as second favourites.
Sapna, got a good start and her rider, M. Atif kept the filly up with the leaders, Shah Pari and Rana Choice surging ahead in the last 100m to win by two and a half lengths from Shah Pari. Rana Choice finished third, another two lengths behind while Jewna completed the frame, two lengths further away. During the race the saddle of the colt, The News, slipped, bringing down his rider, Zameer. The colt was running a good second at that time and looked sure to maintain the same position at the finishing post. Zameer was taken to hospital for medical aid. This was the fifth and last race of the day.
The city had received heavy rains on Wednesday morning, which had made the dirt track, a surface on which runners carrying lightweight found the going good.
A race earlier, the favourite filly, Pretty Princess fought off a late charge by Princess Afaq to win the supporting event ran over 800m. In the straight both the “Princesses” tried to outclass each other but Pretty Princess showed enough stamina to stay on and win by half a length.
The race-goers enjoyed a thrilling contest between the odds-on favourite Ahsan the Great and long shot Cheeku Khan, an unregistered pony, in the third race. Cheeku Khan led comfortably till the dying stages of the race but a late charge by jockey Shahid Rehman saw Ahsan the Great nosing out Cheeku Khan at the finishing line. Stride To Moment and Dam Dama Dam completed the frame among 10 runners. Owned by Ashfaq Ahmad, the colt Ahsan the Great was sent out by Qaiser.
Long shot dark-bay filly, Shah Rani, beat Bird Fly by two lengths to claim the second race. Favourite Tosca finished a close third.
Enjoying a good drop in weight scales, the unregistered, Leader’s Wing, won the pony race. He beat Usman Prince by three lengths with Singapore close third. A dozen ponies took part in the race.
Apprentice riding boy Naseer Ahmad stole the limelight when he rode home two winners. He was lucky to get the mount of Leader’s Wing at the starting gates in the opener when he replaced Farhan Butt on the orders of the Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards and then piloted Shah Rani safely home ahead of the field in the following race.
Results.
KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE
CLASS VII DIV IV 800M.
Leader’s Wing (Imtiaz Manzoor & Raees Ahmad) 8-0 Naseer Ahmad 1 Usman Prince 8-0 M. Waseem Khan 2, Singapore 7-9 Khalid 3 and Shalimar 9-0 Shah Nawaz 4.
Won by 3 L, 3/4 L, 1 1/2 L. Time 52 4/5 secs. Winner trained by M. Abbas.
KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE
CLASS VII DIV II 800M.
Shah Rani (Mohammad Rafiq) 7-8 Naseer Ahmad 1, Bird Fly 8-4 Ali Raza 2, Tosca 8-6 M. Atif 3 and Black King 8-4 Irfan Razzaq 4.
Won by 2 L, Neck, 1 3/4 L. Time 51 2/5 secs. Winner trained by the owner.
KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE
CLASS VII DIV II 800M.
Ahsan The Great (Ashfaq Ahmad) 9-0 Shahid Rehman 1, Cheeku Khan 7-10 M. Waseem 2,Stride To Moment 8-12 Farhan Butt 3 and Dam Dama Dam 8-0 M. Zeeshan 4.
Won by Neck, 2 1/2 L, 4 L. Time 50 3/5 secs. Winner trained by Qaiser.
KALA SHAH KAU PLATE
CLASS VII DIV I 800M.
Pretty Princess (Shah Nawaz Qaiser) 8-6 M. Zeeshan 1, Princess Afaq 7-10 Shakeel Mahmood 2, Blue Fire 8-0 M. Waseem Khan 3 and First Dream 7-4 Naseer Ahmad 4.
Won by 1/2 L, 5 L, Head. Time 50 2/5 secs. Winner trained by the owner.
SHAHDARA PLATE CLASS V
DIV 11 900M.
Sapna (Latif Butt) 7-12 M. Atif 1, Shah Pari 7-4 M. Zeeshan 2,Rana Choice 7-8 Shakeel Mahmood 3 and Jewna 7-4 Naseer Ahmad 4.
Won by 2 1/2 L, 2 l, 2 l. Time 56 3/5 secs.
Winner trained by Rashid Latif.