LAHORE, Sept 16: Fancied bay colt Desert Prince came home with a strong run in the closing stages to capture the class five handicap race, ran over 1,100 metres featuring a six-event card during the Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.
Owned by Mirza Khurshid Baig and trained by Tauqeer Ahmed, the colt from Beadouin Invader, provided both, the owner and trainer, with a grand success in the on-going season.
He beat on-rushing bay Run And Win. The bay mare Royal Destiny and the bay horse Unter completed the frame among seven contestants. Jockey Javaid Iqbal rode the winner on his second back to back victory. This was the sixth and the last race of the day.
Earlier, chestnut filly Miss Play, whose previous run had seen her finish off the frame, put up a spirited performance to win the supporting event gone over 1,100 metres.
Mannan Prince and Stride To Moment set a good pace but both steamed off and fell back when challenged by Miss Play, who won by over four lengths from Mannan Prince.
Miss Play, owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon and trained by Haji Fazal Hadi, had finished off the frame a fortnight back when stable fancy Lucky Cat, who too ran off the board under jockey Shahid Rehman, was backed.
Fancied chestnut filly Toyota put up a smashing performance and won the fourth race. She beat Princess Afaq by four lengths to register her second successive win within a week. Love Minister and Sohna Billoo completed the board. In all, nine ran for the event after the last-minute withdrawal of the bay colt Do Or Die leaving the field open for speedy Toyota.
The first race meeting during the holy month of Ramazan turned out as the most profitable for the favourite backers when four favourites — Simoom, Toyota, Miss Play and Desrt Prince — won in a card of six events decided on Sunday. The other two events were won by the second favourites Malika and Shah Rani in the first and third race.
Dawn had correctly predicted five of the six winners — Simoom, Shah Rani, Toyota, Miss Play and Desert Prince in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th race, respectively. Malika, who was tipped for second place won the opener. Owner trainer Mohammad Rafiq had a profitable day when he sent out two winners, five to four Malika in the opener and three to one chance Shah Rani in the third race.
The Lahore Race Club (LRC) stewards at a meeting presided over by LRC chairman Tariq Aziz discussed matters relating to equine sports and also took decisions on important ones.
Results:
KHANEWAL PLATE CLASS VII
DIV IV 1000M:
Malika (Mohammad Rafiq) 8-10 Anjum 1. Black Narsissus 8-10 Naseer Ahmad 2. Sona 8-0 Ali Raza 3. Pukkar 8-12 Sikander Khan 4.
Won by Neck, 3/4 L, Distance. Time one minute 5 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Hanif.
KHANEWAL PLATE CLASS VII
DIV III 1000M:
Simoom (Syed Pervez Hussain Shah) 9-2 Khalil Vicky 1. Leader’s Wing 7-10 M. Zeeshan 2. Kum Kum 9-2 Hidayat Hussain 3.
Dillagi 8-4 Anjum 4.
Won by 2 1/2 L, 1 1/4 L, 1 1/2 L. Time one minute 5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.
KHANEWAL PLATE CLASS VII
DIV II 1000M:
Shah Rani (Mohammad Rafiq) 9-0 Tariq Habib 1. Striker 9-0 Irfan Razzaq 2. Bird Fly 8-0 Khalid 3. Dream Land 8-6 M. Wasim Khan 4.
Won by 7 L, Head, 6 1/2 L. Time ne minute 3 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.
KHANEWAL PLATE CLASS VII
DIV I 1000M:
Toyota (Mohammad Nawaz) 8-12 M. Zeeshan 1. Princess Afaq 9-0 Ali Raza 2. Love Minister 8-5 M. Wasim Khan 3. Sohna Billoo 9-4 Khalil Vicky 4.
Won by 4 L, Neck, Neck. Time one minute 2 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Arshad.
SHAH KOT PLATE CLASS V
DIV II 1100M:
Miss Play (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 8-12 Shahid Rehman 1. Mannan Prince 8-11 M. Zeeshan 2. Stride To Moment 8-6 Shakeel Mahmood 3. Shah Pari 8-2 Tariq Habib 4.
Won by 4 1/2 L, Neck, 3 L. Time one minute 8 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.
SHAH KOT PLATE CLASS V
DIV I 1100M:
Desert Prince (Mirza Khurshid Baig) 9-0 Javed Iqbal 1. Run And Win 8-7 Farid Ali 2. Royal Destiny 8-10 M. Zeeshan 3. Unter 8-2 M. Nasir 4.
Won by 1 L, 7 1/2 L, Distance. Time one minute 8 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Tauqeer Ahmed.