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It was a Thrill-ing finish to say the least. Bay colt Thrill produced a magnificent performance to win the Pakistan Derby, the country\'s premier horseracing event, at the scenic Lahore Race Club course on March 5.

Thrill is owned by Javed Khalid and trained by I. Nawab. With jockey Salahuddin II aboard, Thrill was in awesome form as the 3-1 favourite ran a perfect race to outclass all its rivals. Thrill was simply too good as egged on by a large gathering at the Lahore Race Club, he left his rivals with no chance whatsoever. The winner was never challenged as he beat second placed Gujrati Babu by a distance in the strong field of eleven horses.

Owais Prince finished third while Trace Hit was a distant fourth. It was, however, a major disappointment for hot favourite Victory Road -- the filly running a miserable race to run off the board.

Nosheen, a three-year-old bay filly, won the 1200- metre LRC Cup in a thrilling finish. The winner, ridden by Salahuddin, crossed the winning post one and half lengths ahead of favourite Shahpur Pride while Mera Chandiwala and Zardan completed the board in the field of 16 runners. Four-year-old English thoroughbred colt Benzine was brilliantly ridden by Mohammad Hanif as he won the 2000-metre Lahore Classic Cup. A trio of English thoroughbreds -- Brummell, Golden Drift and Hidden Cave -- finished in a dead heat for second position.

Chestnut colt Sher-i-Gujrat with jockey Mohammad Nasir II aboard upset the odds as the rank outsider took the honours in the National Breeders Cup, which was run over 1400 metres. He beat favourite Big Show by one and a half lengths. Motivator and First Look finished third and fourth respectively.

The 1400-metre Stewards Cup went to four-year-old filly Valentine, who had jockey Shahid Rehman at the reigns. Valentine finished a length ahead of Freedom Dancer.

Results
PUNJNAD PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 1200m.
Royal Power (Makhdoom Syed Ali Raza) 9-4 A. Aziz 1. Scarlet Empress 9-1 A. Imran 2. Stride To Moment 8-7 Rafaqat Ali 3. Daisy Against All 8-8 M. Hanif 4. Won by 1 1/2 L, 1 1/2 L, 2 3/4 L. Time one min 16 2/5 secs. Winner trained by Haji Fazal Hadi.

LRC PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1200m.
Owais Dream (M. Azeem) 8-13 Azam Hussain 1. Ferrari 9-0 M. Zeeshan 2. Royal Gambler 8-10 Bashir Butt 3. Thinkable 8-9 Azhar Hussain 4. Won by 3 L, 6 L, 3 L. Time one min 16 secs.

LRC PLATE CLASS V DIV II-A 1200m.
Rising Sun (Ch. Mushtaq Ahmad) 9-1 Khurrum Sheikh 1. Cross Ruff 9-0 A. Imran 2. Eye Of THe Tiger 9-0 M. Esa 3. Cobbler 9-0 M. Hanif 4. Won by 4 L, 5 L, 1 1/2 L. Time one minute 16 3/5 seconds.Winner trained by Tauqeer Ahmad.

LRC CUP CLASS V DIV I 1200M.
Nosheen (Asif Ali Khan) 8-7 Salah-ud-Din (II) 1. Shahpur Pride 8-11 A. Aziz 2. Mera Chandiwala 8-12 A. Imran 3. Zardan 8-10 Kashif Qamar 4. Won by 1 1/2 L, 7 1/2 L, 1/2 L. Time one min 15 secs. Winner trained by Memraiz Khan.

NOSHERA PLATE CLASS IV DIV III-B 1400M.
Toru Khan (Huzaifa Shoaib) 7-10 M. Zeeshan 1. Royal Fantasy 8-6 A. Aziz 2. Herry Can Run 8-7 A. Imran 3. Puma Princess 8-11 M. Hussain 4. Won by Distance, 2 1/2 L, 2 3/4 L. Time one min 27 3/5 secs. Winner trained by Haji Ghulam Sarwar.

NOSHERA PLATE CLASS IV DIV III-A 1400M.
Chan (Malik Ghulam Qadir) 8-12 M. Hanif 1. General Councillor9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 2. Lucky Coin 9-0 Khurrum Sheikh 3. Hatam 9-0 M. Zeeshan 4.

NOSHERA PLATE CLASS IV DIV II 1400m.
Won by 5 L, 6 L, 2 L. Time one min 28 2/5 secs. Winner trained by Haji Ghulam Sarwar. Trace Kim (Khawaja M. Arif) 7-10 M. Hanif 1. Fidel Castro 9-0 A. Imran 2. Red Hot Fire 8-6 Shakeel Mahmood 3. Ghazi Rifle 8-10 A. Aziz 4. Won by 1 1/2 L, 4 L, 3 1/2 L. Time one min 28 3/5 secs. Winner trained by Sohail Aziz.

PTCL PAKISTAN DERBY 2006. A TERM RACE FOR FOUR - YEAR - OLD PAKISTANI COLTS AND FILLIES. 2400M.
Thrill ( Javaid Khalid) 9-0 Salah-ud-Din (II) 1. Gujrati Babu 9-0 M. Nasir (II) 2. Owais Prince 9-0 A. Aziz 3. Trace Hit 8-11 M. Hanif 4. Won by Distance, 2 L, 1 1/4 L. Time two mins 38 1/5 secs. Winner trained by I. Nawab.

Lahore Classic Cup 2000M.
Benzine (Syed Tasweer Hussain Shah) 9-0 M. Hanif 1. Brumell 9-7 Azeem Pervaiz, Golden Drift 9-4 Salah-ud-Din (II) & Hidden Cave 9-4 Shahid Rehman 2 (Dead-heat). Won by 3 L, Dead-head, Dead- heat. Time two min 5 2/5 secs. Winner trained Sohail Aziz.

NATIONAL BREEDERS CUP 1400M.
Sher-i_Gujrat 8-10 M. Nasir (II) 1. Big Show 8-7 Shahid Rehman 2. Motivator 8-10 A. Imran 3. First Look 8-4 M. Hanif 4. Won by 1 1/2 L, Head, 2 L. Time one min 27 4/5 secs. Winner trained by Amjad Ali II.

STEWARDS CUP CLASS IV DIV I 1400m
Valentine (Fawad Ahmad Cheema) 8-6 Shahid Rehman 1. Freedom Dancer 9-2 Salah-ud-Din (II) 2. Millennium Count 7-12 A. Aziz 3. Pawan 9-1 Azam Hussain 4. Won by I L, 4 L, Neck. Time one min 28 1/5 secs. Winner trained by Alim-ud-Din.