February 07, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 28, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 6: Fancied dark bay horse Wonderful Smile prevailed from start to finish here on Wednesday, landing the supporting event which was run over 1,000 metres during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the LRC.

Wonderful Smile, the three to two joint-favourite, trained by Choudhry Mohammad Rafiq, looked his best at the starting gate. Owned by Malik Javaid Awan and piloted by the riding boy M. Akram, he beat the chestnut mare Big Choice by six lengths in one minute, four and three-fifths of a second over the dirt track. Love Minister and Jang Ju completed the frame among the dozen starters.

Earlier, the chestnut colt Houstan lived up to his 20 to 100 odds, winning the feature event by defeating Armida by four lengths. Billoo The Great and Victory Gallop then completed the board among the 11 starters left in the field after the last-minute withdrawal of Hallow Handsome.

Owned by Sohrab Khan and trained by Mian Abdul Majeed, the winner provided jockey Aamir Parvaiz an armchair ride, in his only mount during the day.

The upcoming riding boy M. Waseem had a good day, stealing the limelight by riding two winners. He piloted Geo Bhakkar in the third race and capped it with a narrow victory on Better Times in the sixth and concluding event of the day.

Trainer Sohail Aziz further consolidated his position, saddling owner Syed Alamdar Shah’s filly Noor-un-Nisa to grab the first race.

The day’s proceedings were shared evenly among the bookmakers and punters when three favourites won in a card of six events. All races were contested over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres.

Results

Kaghan Plate Class VI

Div IV 1,000M:

Noor-un-Nisa (Syed Alamdar Shah) 8-10 Sajjad Hussain 1, Desert Eagle 9-2 Sajjad Hussain 2, Dimple 7-12 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Al Aian 8-6 A. Alam 4.

Won by 7 1/2 L, 1 1/4 L, 6 L. Time one minute 5 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

Kaghan Plate Class VI

Div I 1,000M:

Houstan (Sohrab Khan) 8-9 Aamir Parvaiz 1, Armida 8-11 M. Hanif 2, Billoo The Great 8-3 Sajjad Hussain 3 and Victory Gallop 8-2 Parvaiz Bhatty 4.

Won by 4 L, 5 1/2 L, Distance. Time one minute 4 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mian Abdul Majeed.

Mekran Plate Class VII

Div I-A 1,000M:

Deo Bhakkar (Malik Bashir) 8-0 M. Waseem 1, Chocolate Boy 8-10 M. Akram 2, Leader’s Wing 9-0 Allah Yar 3 and Rokkara 9-0 Khalid 4.

Won by 4 4/5 L, Neck, 4 1/2 L. Time one minute 7 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

Kaghan Plate Class VI

Div III 1,000M:

Great Rhythm (Shah Nawaz Qaiser) 8-2 Parvaiz Bhatty 1, Regulation 8-7 M. Waseem Khan 2, Victory King 8-0 Dajjad Hussain 3 and Bandgi 8-2 M. Hussain 4.

Won by 3/4 L, 7 L, 1 L. Time one minute 7 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.

Kaghan Plate Class VI

Div II 1,000M:

Wonderful Smile (Malik Javaid Awan) 9-2 M. Akram 1, Big Choice 8-6 Parvaiz Bhatty 2, Love Minister 8-12 S. Ammad 3 and Jang Ju 9-0 Faisal Tahir 4.

Won by 6 L, 2 1/2 L, Distance. Time one minute 4 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Choudhry Mohammad Rafiq.

Mekran Plate Class VII

Div I-B 1,000M:

Better Time (Aamer Azad) 9-0 M. Waseem 1, Mere Lal 8-10 Sajjad Hussain 2, Bioactive 7-10 Naseer Ahmad 3 and Lal Pari 8-6 Ali Raza 4. Won by 1/2 L, 6 L, 3 L. Time one minute 9 seconds. Winner trained by Shahzad Ali.