January 24, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1423

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LAHORE, Jan 23: The contest for the richest-ever race, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Cup, a class I, II and III combined handicap event, to be run over 1400 metres looks like a battle royale, between two top fillies and a colt when the Lahore Winter Meeting gets under way at the Racecourse on Friday.

There are five cup events being sponsored by Sheikh Hamdan, and the feature event has a dozen contestants jostling for supremacy.

Of them the interest of the racing connoisseurs revolves round two fillies Democracy and Red Storm and a colt Red Ransom.

On recent performances and handicap, four-year-old bay filly, Democracy (Cisco Well-Let Get Going) has an edge over others. Bay filly Red Storm, a progeny of Shogun-out-of Venturist Gold, had been a consistent performer during the on-going Lahore Winter Meetings.

Four-year-old colt Red Ransom had been showing a remarkable improvement on each outing but did not perform well in his last outing on Jan 12.

The winner of this race is to receive a handsome prize of Rs 400,000 in cash while those placed first, second, third and fourth will get Rs200,000, Rs100,000 and Rs50,000 respectively.

The main supporting event, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Cup for class IV division I to be contested over 1200 metres has nine acceptors.

In this second race of the day’s card, four of them, come into reckoning. They are Fair Play, Dizzy Height, Prime Force and Fancy Light.

The first three have been showing excellent performances while Fancy Light is running after a long absence from the track. They should decide about the winner.

Those occupying the first four positions will be awarded cash prizes Rs350,000, Rs150,000, Rs80,000 and Rs40,000, respectively.

The third race, the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Cup for Class IV division II to have gone over 1200 metres is packed with eight good sprinters, who relish the distance.

Four of them attract attention on their course performances. They are Silver Jet, Mahnoor, Sound Of Music and Chief Executive.

The distance of this race which will the first in racing order is 1000 metres. This race seems to be an open affair.

Sheikh Hamdan will be accompanied by a 10-member entourage and Punjab Chief Minister Parvaiz Elahi and senior government officials.

The race club has been decorated befitting the occassion. A band will be in attendance, playing lilting tunes.

The following are the fields and our selections. (The names of probable jockeys are given in brackets).

SHEIKH HAMDAN BIN RASHID AL-MAKTOUM CUP. A term race for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies (maidens) 1000 m:

Ponchi 8-7 (Salah-ud-Din II) Flood Of Gold 8-7 (Qasim Shah) Cess Pool 8-7 (M. Hanif) Prince Well 8-7 (Javed Iqbal) Sun Princess 8-4 (Nadeem Ikran) Be Dazzled 8-4 (A. Aziz) Guys And Dolls 8-4 (Shahid Rehman) Aechoo 8-4 (M. Zeeshan) Heart’s Beat 8-4 (Mubarik Ali) Royal Salute 8-4 (Majid Khan) Royal Jewellry 8-4 (Qamar Zaman) Cinderella 8-4 (M. Hussain) and Innuendo 8-4 (Aamar Parvez).

Win: Cess Pool. Place; Ponchi and Guys And Dolls. Upset: Prince Well.

SHEIKH HAMDAN BIN RASHID AL-MAKTOUM CUP CLASS IV DIV I 1200M:

Blue Dawn 9-5 (M. A. Shamas) Dizzy Height 9-3 (Khurrum Sheikh) Fair Play 9-3 (Shahid Rehman) Snoopy 8-11 (M. Hanif) Fancy Light 8-6 (Salah-ud-Din-II) Zargar 8-3 (M. Zeeshan) Shannel 8-2 (Qamar Zaman) Muqaddar 8-2 (Majid Khan) and Prime Force 7-10 (Aamar parvez).

Win: Fair Play. Place: Dizzy Height and Prime Force. Upset: Fancy Light.

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Cup Class IV Div II 1200m:

Mahnoor 9-4 Dare To Dream 8-12 Daring Eagle 8-10 Better Case 8-10 Sound Of Music 8-8 Paddock Fancy 8-6 King Of Hearts 8-0 Silver Jet 8-0 and Chief Executive 7-4.

Win: Silver Jet. Place: Mahnoor and Sound Of Music. Upset: Chief Executive.

SHEIKH HAMDAN BIN RASHID AL-MAKTOUM CLASS I, II & III 1400 M:

African Knight 12-0 (Javed Bashir) Son Of A Gun 10-13 (M. Nawaz II) Gambling Girl 10-3 (F. Qamar) Shah The Great 10-2 (Aamar Parvez) Great Grandy 9-6 (Khurrum Sheikh) Red Ransom 8-11 (Shahid Rehman) Blu’s Wendy 8-11 (M. Hanif) Democracy 8-7 (Salah-ud-Din II) Great king 7-11 (Javed Iqbal) Red Storm 7-10 (M. Zeeshan) Millennium Count 7-4 M. Jehangir) and Admiral’s Way 7-4 (A. Aziz).

Win: Democracy. Place: Red Storm and Blu’s Wendy. Upset: Red Ransom.

SHEIKH HAMDAN BIN RASHID AL-MAKTOUM CUP CLASS V DIVISION I 1200M:

Silver Charm 9-0 (M. Zeeshan) On On 8-7 (Mubarik Ali) Feel The Freedom 8-10 (Shahid Rehman) Moment To Moment 8-9 (Qamar Zaman) Miracle 8-8 (Salah-ud-Din II) Polo Gambler 8-0 (M. Jehangir) Storm Bird 8-0 (Aamar Parvez) Set A Fire 8-0 (A. Aziz) and Star Gate 7-8 (Faisal Tahir).

Win: Feel The Freedom. Place: Silver Charm and Set A Fire. Upset: Miracle.