Hat-trick for Shahid as Lady Nirana wins Pakistan Derby

LAHORE Lady Narnia galloped to win in the Pakistan Derby 2010 final with its rider Shahid Rehman completing his hat-trick of titles here at the Lahore Race Club on sunny and partly cloudy Sunday. The experts believe that it was not merely Lady Narnia, but the rider also who made the win possible. This was Rehmans third win out of the five victories of the day and fifth derby title. As of the horse, last week the Lady won the Thousand Guineas and maintained its win spree by claiming the derby also. Owned by Asif Ali Khan, the Lady clocked two minutes 37 seconds and 4/5 to land in as a winner. The chairman of the LRC Tariq Azez gave the winners trophy to Rehman along with the winners purse. As many as 10 races were drawn for the Lahorites who had gathered in big numbers at the Lahore Race Club to celebrate the springs start. Apart from just three upset wins, the favourite horses emerged to their ranks and standings. The massive crowd at the Lahore Race Club for the countrys most prestigious activity speaks volumes of the importance the Pakistan Derby. This year the field was filled with some top riders and horses from the host city as well as Karachi. The Pakistan Derby has entered 64th year though the Lahore Race Club lags behind in many ways. There were no proper arrangements for media to cover the event and this year too the journalists were not provided with the draw card and were seen running from pillar to the post for the results. Even the media centre building was flocked with punters who did not bother to budge an inch from their positions. The website of the LRC was launched many years back but is not updated with the scheduled races, favoutite horses, line up etc, set aside live updates of the days races. If not for the weakly races schedule and results, it should at least have been live for the Pakistan Derby because it is the years biggest event and there should be someone giving live feed on the website for the followers of the sport globally. When effort was made to contact the officials of the LRC for comments, no one was available. They were maybe too busy in their game and did not bother to even know the importance of timely updates in modern times. In the opening race, Trace Again moved ahead of Victory Show and Lucky Crack. Shahid Rehman rode the Trace to win Again. Bold Boy stood winner of the second race ahead of Flying Cadet and Speed Zone while Alexandra staged the first upset of the day when this horse left behind Timberland and Black Mamba at second and third places respectively. Aamer Pervaiz kept the title high while sitting on Alexandras back. Glittering won the fourth race of the day. It was ridden by Shahid who master-minded another upset of the day. Over Doze was second and Naked Venus was third. Justified set another upset of the day while Fiesta Lady and Spectra were placed second and third. Rider A Raza was behind this upset. Gold Creek also ridden by Shahid Rehman claimed the seventh race crown and it was the riders fourth victory. Punjabi followed it at second position. In the eighth race, Chapter One was the favourite and it maintained its favorite tag by not only winning the race but also consolidated its lead bit by bit. However, Wood Packer did its best but lasted at second place and in the end rider Hadayat Hussain was the happy man to lead Chapter One to win. In the ninth race, Victory Power was the horse of the event that was followed by Mythical and Prince of Wales.

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