LAHORE: The 60-100 favourite gelding Believe Me was a most lucky winner in the August Cup after defeating onrushing colt Amazing Runner by a neck at the finish line during the day/night Lahore Summer Meeting under floodlights at the Racecourse here on Sunday evening.

Ridden by Mohammad Zulfiqar and trained by Rashid Latif, Believe Me — who was unlucky on his four consecutive last runs — this time made a flying start and then kept onto his lead till the finishing line when Amazing Runner, who was ridden by Munir Hussain, swerved in the chase for the lead but was denied by a neck during the race run over the distance of 1,100 metres.

Bay filly Remember Me took third spot with Galactic Song completing the board.

Winning owner Farrukh Mubarak was presented the cup by a prominent Lahore Race Club (LRC) member Umar Khan soon after the race.

In the Apprentice Boys Cup run over 800 metres, red-roan colt Hidden Prince came from far behind to beat red-roan filly Magical City by a length to oblige his backers on his debut at the race track.

The winner was ridden by apprentice Haroon Gulzar and trained by Sohail Aziz, a veteran conditioner of horses who rose to prominence two decades ago while training the stable horses of LRC steward Syed Pervez Hussain and also leading owner Syed Tasvir Hussain and retired Colonel Naeem Sarwar .

LRC member Chaudhry Mohammad Afzal gave away the cup to winning owner Hashim Ali Dogar.

The most striking and popular winner of the Sunday’s meeting was three-year-old filly Sitara Princess who clocked a smart time of 59 4/5 seconds over the 1,000 metres run. Her fine performance was greatly appreciated by the race-goers.

Results:

THE APPRENTICE BOYS CUP CLASS VII DIV V — 800M:

Hidden Princess (Hashim Ali Dogar) 8-8, Haroon Gulzar 1; Magical City 8-0, Gul Zaib 2; Sultan Jahaniyan 7-10, Noman 3; Gold 8-10, Ali Shan 4.

Won by 1 L, 2½ L, 2½ L. Time: 48 seconds. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

THE KASHMIR PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV — 1,000M:

Statue Of Liberty (Khawaja Mohammad Atif) 8-10, Mohammad Zulfiqar 1; Wahab Choice 8-6, Babar Rehman 2; Trick Or Treat 7-12, Haroon Gulzar 3; Jan-e-Fida 8-10, Ali Shan 4.

Won by ¾ L, 5 L, 3½ L. Time: one minute one second. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

THE KASHMIR PLATE CLASS VII DIV III & IV — 1,000M:

Sitara Princess (Ali Raza Zia) 8-10, Aftab Chaudhry 1; Qamar Choice 8-4, Tahir Abbas 2; Jalpana Prince 7-12, Mohammad Hanif 3; Safdar Princess 7-8, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by 4 L, 1¾ L, Distance. Time: 59 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Yaqoob Butt.

THE AUGUST CUP CLASS VII DIV I (CLASS VI INCLUDED) — 1,100M:

Believe Me (Farrukh Mubarak) 8-4, Mohammad Zulfiqar 1; Amazing Runner 7-10, Munir Hussain 2; Remember Me 7-10, Mohammad Sajjad 3; Galactic Song 8-8, Tahir Abbas 4.

Won by Neck, 1¼ L, 1¼ L. Time: one minute 6 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

THE KASHMIR PLATE CLASS VII DIV I & II — 1,100M:

Raining Fairy (Makhdoom Saad Asfandyar Ali) 9-2, Aftab Chaudhry 1; Well Done Pakistan 9-0, Aamir Pervez 2; Lorenzo 9-0, Tahir Abbas 3; Madhuri Dixit 8-8, Deenar Mirwani 4.

Won by 4 L, 2 L, 2 L. Time: one minute 6 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mazhar Abbas Kalyar.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2021