KARACHI: Favourite bay horse Choice Of The Day lifted the July Cup as turf accountants dominated a five-race card during the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse on Sunday.

Having placed second in last three outings, Choice Of The Day made amends by justifying his billing to give race-goers some respite on a day of upsets as he galloped home by three lengths over chestnut horse Albania to clinch the cup.

Owned by Mohammad Rehan and sent by trainer Mohammad Sharif, Choice Of The Day was ably ridden by rider Riaz Ahmed.

Mare Recovery, who won the last race, had to be content with third place after being edged by short head followed by Faster Than You among seven starters as New Class was scratched in the morning declaration.

In a closely-fought race, rank outsider Mind Of Promise edged mare Sher Garh Queen by head to win the day’s feature event as public fancy Amazing Lips occupied third place. She was followed by chestnut horse Wonderful Smile among half-a-dozen horses.

At the outset, the first three races witnessed upset galore as punters suffered heavily. The Finisher defeated Shabnam by four-and-a-half lengths to clinch the opening race as favourite Star Queen had to settle for third place.

Rank outsider Fast Boy won by seven lengths over Sassy Gold as pair of favourites Meri Chahat and Awaz-e-Sehar occupied the next two places on the board, respectively.

In yet another upset, favourite Twenty Twenty when Easy Paisa defeated him by a length-and-a-half to win the third race.

Results:

THE JULY PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII — 4 F:

The Finisher (Amjad Ali) 8-9, Mohammad Qais 1; Shabnam 9-0, Mohammad Sajjad 2; Star Queen 8-0, Waheed Baran 3; Quetta Pride 7-12, Mohammad Alam 4.

Won by 4½ L, 4 L, 3½ L. Time: 0.52 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by owner.

THE JULY PLATE SCALE ORDER VII & VIII — 4 F:

Fast Boy (Ghulam Fareed) 8-11 (cr8-4), Mohammad Asim 1; Sassy Gold 9-0 (cr8-9), Adnan Khan 2; Meri Chahat 8-12 (cr8-9,) Ali Ehsan 3; Awaz-e-Sehar 8-9 (cr8-4), Kashif Arshad 4.

Won by 7 L, 2 L, Head. Time: 0.52 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mujahid Ali.

THE JULY PLATE SCALE ORDER VI & VII — 4 F:

Easy Paisa (Farooq Lango) 8-6, Mohammad Sajjad 1; Twenty Twenty 8-9 (cr8-6), Mohammad Ramzan 2; Punjabi Munda 8-5, Mohammad Qais 3; Faster 8-12, Latif 4.

Won by 1½ L, 5 L, 4 L. Time: 0.52 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ijaz Ahmed.

THE JULY CUP SCALE ORDER IV & V — 4 F:

Choice Of The Day (Mohammad Rehan) 9-0, Riaz Ahmed 1; Albania 7-13 (cr8-4), Safdar Hussain 2; Recovery 8-7 (cr8-4), Mohammad Ramzan 3; Faster Than You 8-1 (cr7-12), Ali Ehsan 4.

Won by 3 L, S. Head, 4 L. Time: 0.51 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Sharif.

THE JULY PLATE SCALE ORDER I, II & III — 4 F:

Mind Of Promise (Ali Raza Zia) 10-0, Zohaib Qamar 1; Sher Garh Queen 7-0, Waheed Baran 2; Amazing Lips 9-8, Mohammad Ramzan 3; Wonderful Smile 7-0, Riaz Ahmed 4.

Won by Head, Head, 4 L. Time: 0.51 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Zia-ur-Rehman.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2021