March 24, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

LAHORE, March 23: Fancied filly Rags To Riches swelled her owner’s earnings with a smooth victory in the feature event, the Jhelum Cup run over 1,600 metres distance during the Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.

The three-year-old bay filly trained by Sohail Aziz and owned by Syed Tasweer Hussain Shah was confidently backed by connections as the 20 to 100 favourite. She beat bay colt Karam Pey Karam by over five length’s margin. Spiritual Song and Lucky Winner completed the frame among the eight runners. The winner clocked one minute 41 4/5 second over the distance in this fifth race of the day.

A race earlier, three-year-old colt Vendetta with the same trainer-owner combination, landed the Nero’s Dream Cup in the over 1,200 metres. The colt who ran off the frame last Sunday, this time staged a big upset by defeating Houstan by seven lengths with Dillagi and Byron completing the board. Earlier, the filly Janu was withdrawn from the race at the time of declaration of riders.

The riding boy Tariq Habib and trainer Haji Fazal Hadi jointly earned the rare distinction of achieving hat-tricks. Tariq Habib displayed all the qualities of a good rider with fluent victories in the first, second and third race. He partnered My Delilah, Bright Flame and Miss Liza, all saddled by Haji Fazal Hadi. Haji later added another win to his day’s tally to bring it to four when he sent out Pick Of The Day in the sixth and last race in the racing order.

Tariq-Haji’s feat even overshadowed Sohail Aziz-Syed Tasweer Hussain, who registered a cup double, lifting both the feature and the supporting events crowning the six-event card of the day.

Three favourites won, sharing the day’s proceedings equally between the punters and the bookmakers. They were: My Delilah (80 to 100), Rags To Riches (20 to 100) and Pick Of The Day (40 to100). The latter was steered by leading jockey Shahid Rehman.

Results:

MALAKAND PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I 1,000M:

My Delilah (Arbab Mohammad Zahoor Khan) 8-8, Tariq Habib 1; Raksh-e-Raqeeban 8-12, M. Hanif 2; Love Minister 8-10, Naseer Ahmed 3; Gold Mine 8-6, Shaheen Bhatti 4.

Won by 2 3/4 L, 1 3/4 L, Short-head. Time: One minute 3 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

NERO’S DREAM PLATE CLASS V

DIV III 1,200M: Bright Flame (Arbab Ayub Khan) 8-8, Tariq Habib 1; Dubai Fan 8-8, Khalil Vicky 2; Sabbat Qadam 8-8, A. Imran 3; Willhewish 8-4, A. Alam 4.

Won by 4 L, 5 L, 6 L. Time: One minute 16 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

NERO’S DREAM PLATE CLASS V

DIV I & II 1,200M:

Miss Liza (Malik Hamid Ali Noon) 9-0, Tariq Habib 1; Emperor 8-8, Anjum 2; Don’t Follow 8-8, M. Atif 3; Munsaf 8-8, Shakeel Mahmood 4.

Won by 5 L, 1 1/2 L, 4 L. Time: One minute 15 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

NERO’S DREAM CUP CLASS V

DIV I 1,200M: Vendetta (Syed Tasweer Hussain) 9-0, Khalil Vicky 1; Houstan 8-12, Shakeel Mahmood 2; Dillagi 9-0, Anjum 3; Byron 8-6, M. Wasim Khan 4.

Won by 7 L, 1 3/4 L, 3/4 L. Time: One minute 15 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

JHELUM CUP CLASS IV

DIV I, II & III 1,600M:

Rags To Riches (Syed Tasweer Hussain) 8-12, M. Hanif 1; Karam Pey Karam 8-4, Aamir Pervez 2; Spiritual Song 8-0, Shakeel Mahmood 3; Lucky Winner 9-0, Majid Ali 4.

Won by 5 1/2 L, Neck, 4 L. Time: One minute 41 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

MALAKAND PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I & II 1,000M:

Pick Of The Day (K.A. Ahmed) 9-0, Shahid Rehman 1; Honest Minister 9-2 Ali Raza 2; Brave Heart 9-2, M. Atif 3; First Passion 7-7, A. Alam 4.

Won by 4 1/2 L, 4 L, 2 L. Time: One minute 3 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.