LAHORE, Oct 30: On a day of upsets, backers suffered heavily when only one favourite obliged in a card of six events during the mid-week Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse Wednesday.
Backers of form began the afternoon proceedings on a disastrous note right from the opener in which long shot bay gelding Sweet Victory proved worth his name for owner Malik Riaz Shahid. Fancied Sweet Talk proved no match for the winner losing by seven lengths under apprentice Vicky Gaman.
In the following event four to one chance bay horse Chengez ran away with the race defeating joint favourite Sun Dance by five lengths. Bay filly Silver Talk finished third another three lengths behind, true to her stable’s reputation whose favourites seldom win.
Three to one chance chestnut filly Lado Rani won the third race beating In The Game, who nosed out Muslim Badger to third place in a closely fought race. Fancied bay colt Rocket ran off the frame among 16 runners.
Chestnut horse Stars ‘N’ Stripes gave some respite to favourite backers winning the fourth race. He made short work of the bay gelding Goshie The Great winning the race by about three lengths.
Then again a rank outsider bay filly Silver Heart was lucky to romp home in the fifth and supporting event. She defeated heavily backed Bach View by a short head in photo-finish. Knock Out and Fifty Six Fifty Six finished third and fourth.
The neglected bay filly My Fantasy won the sixth and last race to complete punters’ misery. She beat Lucky Bailiff by three-fourth of a length. The well-backed Fiji finished third while second favourite Chief Executive completed the board.
Riding Boy Mujahid Ali II stole the limelights of the day’s racing by bringing in a brace of winners through Sweet Victory and Lado Rani.
Last year’s champion trainer, Raja Tehmasab Khan, who is heading trainers statistics table again, also scored a profitable double. He sent out Lado Rani and Stars ‘N’ Stripes in the third and fourth race, respectively. All events were contested over the sprinting distance of 1000 metres.
Results:
NAROWAL PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VIII 1000 METRES:
Sweet Victory (Malik Riaz Shahid) 8-9 Mujahid Ali (II) 1. Sweet Talk 8-9 Vicky Gaman 2. Tulip 8-0 A. Aziz 3. Jan-e-Mir 8-9 Nazir Ahmad 4.
Won by 7 L, 2 3/4 L, 3 1/2 L.
Time one minute 8 seconds.
Winner trained by Tauqeer Ahmad.
NAROWAL PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VIII (A) 1000 METRES:
Chungez (Syed Ahsan Raza) 9-0 A. Imran 1. Sun Dance 8-0 M. Hussain 2. Silver Baby 8-6 Faisal Tahir 3. New Cannon 8-0 M. Jehangir 4.
Won by 5 L, 3 L, 6 3/4 L.
Time one minute 7 seconds.
Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.
NAROWAL PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VII 1000 METRES:
Lado Rani (Choudhry Mushtaq Ahmad) 8-4 Mujahid Ali (II) 1. In The Game 7-10 Parvez Bhatty 2. Muslim Badger 7-13 Qasim Shah 3. Beena Roy Baby 8-4 Shahid Khan 4.
Won by 1 L, Short-head, 4 L.
Time one minute 7 1/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Raja Tehmasab Khan.
NAROWAL PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VI 1000 METRES:
Stars ‘N’ Stripes (Choudhry Sagheer Hussain) Shahid Mustafa 1. Goshie The Great 7-12 A. Aziz 2. Blue Champion 8-10 Azhar Hussain 3. Time To Lead 9-0 M. Zeeshan 4.
Won by 2 3/4 L, Distance, 3 1/5 L.
Time one minute 5 4/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Raja Tehmasab Khan.
NAROWAL PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION VI 1000 METRES:
Silver Heart 7-12 M. Jehangir 1. Bach View 8-4 Aamar Parvez 2. Knock Out 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 3. Fifty Six Fifty Six 7-13 Qamar Zaman 4.
Won by Short-head, 2 3/4 L, Head.
Time one minute 5 3/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Abdur Rahim.
NAROWAL PLATE CLASS VII DIVISION V 1000 METRES:
My Fantasy (Anjum Parvez KHan) 9-2 M. Hussain 1. Lucky Bailiff 7-10 A. Aziz 2. Fiji 8-0 Shahid Rehman 3. Chief Executive 8-5 Azeem Pervaiz 4.
Won by 3/4 L, 1 1/2 L, 3/4 L.
Time one minute 5 3/5 seconds.
Winner trained by Akhtar Mir.