KARACHI: Fancied three-year-old bay colt Risk Free produced an electrifying performance to lift the Shah Mardan Shah II Pir Pagara VII Memorial Cup in the Gymkhana race meeting at the Karachi Racecourse here on Sunday.

Having won his last run by distance earlier this month, the colt defied 17 pounds overweight on his back to win the event run over a mile by 14 lengths to make it two victories on the trot.

The eventual champion, owned by Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara and trained by Mohyuddin, was given a perfect ride by seasoned jockey Ghulam Shabbir II in a start-to-finish bid. He beat colt Hotman for the honours among eight starters.

Nashwan, a four-year-old dark bay horse from Lahore, finished third under Lahore rider M. Hanif while filly Sensational completed the frame.

The cup was introduced last year following the death of Shah Mardan Shah Pir Pagara in January 2012.

Another public fancy two-year-old chestnut filly Sajila made an impressive debut winning The Upcoming Stars Stakes hands down by 10 lengths and-a-half with rider Mohammad Essa astride.

Sajila got the better of debutant filly Accepted as fillies Zahrat Dubai and Lacoste followed the two in same order.

According to knowledgeable punters, both Risk Free and Sajila have emerged as strong contender for the 2000 Guineas and The Nursery Cup that takes place on Dec 25 in the aftermath of their performances.

At the outset, the races began on a sour note for punters as outsider colt Postal Address and mare Meri Sahiba lowered the colours of favourites.

Postal Address defeated favourite mare Beautiful Rose by a length-and-a-half to pick up spoils in the opening race while Meri Sahiba prevailed over Bang Bang by three-quarter-of-a-length in the next as fancied Choco Bar finished off the frame.

Riding boy Faizan Ali won first race of his career by powering Postal Address to victory.

The Destroyer, a four-year-old chestnut colt, galloped to a length-and-a-half victory over filly Blue Eyes to give some relief to the horse-racing connoisseurs in the third race.

Second Favourite filly Medusa overcome Happy Lady by a length to claim the sixth race while long shot Jahalwan Love upset the applecart by getting past a pair of favourites Arkadian and Loyal Lady in the seventh and concluding race.

The triumph of Postal Address and Risk Free earned owner Syed Sibghat­ullah Shah Pir Pagara and trainer Mohyuddin a fine double. Syed Ismail Shah, a nephew of Sibghatullah Shah, and trainer Rafiq K followed suit with the wins of The Destroyer and Medusa.

Jockey Ghulam Shabbir II also caught the limelight by galloping home back-to-back winners in Risk Free and Medusa.

Results: THE KINGREE PLATE SCALE ORDER VIII-UK 4½ F:

Postal Address (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 7-13 (cr7-6), Faizan Ali 1; Beautiful Rose 8-13 (cr8-8), Abdul Hakeem 2; Hot Boy 7-13 (cr8-4), Nazil Hussain 3; Dabang 7-13 (cr8-3), M. Rashid 4. Won by 1 ½ L, 8 L, ½ L. Time: One minute 2 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE KINGREE PLATE SCALE ORDER V, VI AND VII 4 ½ F:

Meri Sahiba (Tariq Aziz) 8-9, Wasim 1; Bang Bang 8-12, Pervez Ali 2; Star Gold 7-11, Waheed Baran 3; Sonia Again 7-10, Riaz Ahmed 4. Won by ¾ L, ¾ L, 12 L. Time: 0.58 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Sher Mohammad.

THE KINGREE PLATE SCALE ORDER III, IV AND V 5 F:

The Destroyer (Syed Ismail Shah) 9-3, M. Nasir 1; Blue Eyes 7-7 (cr 8-0), Abdul Hakeem 2; Simple Lady 9-1, Sohail Ahmed 3; Tejori 7-11, Yousuf Ikram 4. Won by 1 ½ L, 2 ¾ L, 2½ L. Time: One minute 6 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Rafiq K.

THE UPCOMING STARS STAKES – A TERM RACE FOR TWO-YEAR-OLD PAK COLTS AND FILLIES – 5 F:

Sajila (Haji Khuda Bux Rajar) 8-4, Mohammad Essa 1; Accepted 8-7, Pervez Ali 2; Zahrat Dubai 8-4, Sohail Ahmed 3; Lacoste 8-4, Waheed Baran 4. Won by 10½ L, 7 L, 3 L. Time: One minute3 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Ali Gul.

SHAH MARDAN SHAH II PIR PAGARA VII MEMORIAL CUP – A HANDI-CAP RACE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD AND ABOVE PAK HORSES – 1 M:

Risk Free (Syed Sibghatullah Shah Pir Pagara) 7-0 (cr8-3), Ghulam Shabbir II 1; Hotman 7-12, Sohail Ahmed 2; Nashwan 8-8, M. Hanif 3; Sensational 7-11, Zaki Zakir 4. Won by 14 L, 5¾ L, 7¾ L. Time: One minute 41 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Mohyuddin.

THE KINGREE PLATE SCALE ORDER I AND II ROUND BEND 5 ½ F:

Medusa (Syed Ismail Shah) 9-4, Ghulam Shabbir II 1; Happy Lady 7-12, Mohammad Essa 2; Subha Sadiq 9-4, M. Hanif 3; Dancing Queen 9-2, Zubair Ahmed 4. Won by 1 L, ¾ L, 8 L. Time: One minute 12 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by M. Rafiq K.

THE KINGREE PLATE SCALE ORDER I 5 ½ F:

Jahalwan Love (M. Asif Zehri) 7-13, Zaki Zakir 1; Arkadian 8-6, Mohammad Essa 2; Loyal Lady 9-0, Pervez Ali 3; National Queen 8-9, M. Nasir 4. Won by 3¾ L, ½ L, 2 L. Time: One minute 11 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Haroon.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2014