LAHORE: Three-year-old bay colt Raksh lowered colours of as many as seven rivals with a fluent win in the feature event — the Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed, Nishan-i-Haider Cup — during the day/night Lahore Winter Meeting at the floodlit Race­course here on Sunday evening.

Raksh upstaged fellow colt Amazing Runner by a big margin of eight lengths with the even-money favourite, colt Champion Of Mind slithered to third position.

The winning owner, Malik Atique Ahmed, received the cup from the Lahore Race Club (LRC) member Omar Khan soon after the race.

The supporting event, the Sawar Mohammad Hussain Shaheed, Nishan-i-Haider Cup was won by favourite bay colt Common Champion, who led all the way from start to finish like a real champion. He beat Jalpana Prince by five lengths.

LRC steward Mahmood Khan gave away the cup to Common Champion’s young owner Zain-ul-Abedin.

Rank outsider long-shot colt Codes Cracker sprang a big surprise in the second supporting event, the Havaldar Lalak Jan Shaheed Cup Nishan-i-Haider Cup, by defeating the 25-100 surging favourite blue roan Hide Out who lost stamina in the dying moments to lose by a length.

Bay colt Professor, in a late burst of speed, won the Naik Saif Ali Janjua (Hilal-i-Kashmir) Cup by beating the 80-100 favourite filly Ayyan Beauty by four lengths to register his second victory on the trot.

LRC steward Syed Murtaza Mahmud gave away the cup to the winning owner Sohail Imtiaz.

The September Cup was won by chestnut filly, Bala Khatoon, who registered her maiden success by getting past the 40-100 favourite chestnut horse Chota Raja, who was brought from Karachi to participate in winter meetings.

The underfoot wet conditions of the race track following rains for the last three days did not suit some of the horses.

Upcoming apprentice rider Shan stole the limelight by bringing home a brace of winners in Bala Khatoon and Professor in the second and third races, respectively under trainer of Rashid Latif.

Results:

THE MOJ-E-BAHAR PLATE CLASS VII DIV V — 1,000M:

Zoaq-e-Yaqeen (Usman Gujjar) 8-10, Mohammad Atif 1; Neeli The Great 8-6, Shan 2; Big Foot 7-8, Zain Manzoor 3; Merchant Of Venus 7-8, Mohammad Sajjad 4.

Won by 7 L, ¾ L, 2 L. Time one minute 5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

THE SEPTEMBER CUP CLASS VII DIV V (MAIDENS) — 1,000M:

Bala Khatoon (Ansar Abbas) 8-3, Shan 1; Chota Raja 8-10, Shahbaz Ali 2; Sher Garh Babu 8-10, Shahzad Bhatti 3; Revolver 8-1, Abdul Rehman 4.

Won by 6 L, 9 L, 8 L, Distance. Time one: minute 4 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

MALIK SAIF ALI JANJUA (HILAL-I-KASHMIR) CUP CLASS VII DIV III & IV — 1,000M:

Professor (Sohail Imtiaz) 8-6, Shan 1; Ayyan Beauty 8-12, Deenar Mirwani 2; Chota Dera 7-10, Safdar Ali 3; Jee Aya Nu 9-0, Memraiz Khan 4.

Won by 4 L, 3 L, 5 L. Time: one minute three seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

SAWAR MOHAMMAD HUSSAIN SHAHEED NISHAN-I-HAIDER CUP CLASS VII DIV II — 1,100M:

Common Champion (Zain-ul-Abedin) 8-0, Tahir Abbas 1; Jalpana Prince 8-10, Haroon Gulzar 2; Gondal Choice 7-12, Safdar Ali 3; Madhuri Dixit 8-4, Mohammad Zulfiqar 4.

Won by 5 L, Neck, 7 L. Time: one minute 10 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Nadeem Raza Khan.

CAPTAIN KARNAL SHER KHAN SHAHEED NISHAN-I-HAIDER CLASS VII DIV I & II — 1,100M:

Raksh ((Malik Atique Ahmed) 7-13, Deenar Mirwani 1; Amazing Runner 8-2, Memraiz Khan 2; Champion Of Mind 8-2, Tahir Abbas 3; Galactic Song 8-2, Mohammad Zulfiqar 4.

Won by 8 L, 2½ L, 3 L. Time: one minute 10 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohammad Afzal.

HAWALDAR LALAK JAN SHAHEED NISHAN-I-HAIDER CUP CLASS VII DIV III — 1,100M:

Codes Cracker (Azam Ishaq) 8-10, Mohammad Sajjad 1; Hide Out 8-0, Aftab Chaudhry 2; Finisher 8-6, Haroon Gulzar 3; Master Prince 8-8, Deenar Mirwani 4.

Won by 1 L, 2 L, 3½ L. Time: one minute 12 seconds. Winner trained by Arsalan Khan.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2021