Newton tipped to make amends and win Islamabad Cup
By Aftab Gilani
LAHORE, Oct 15: A competitive card of six events consisting of a big field has been drawn for the 7th Lahore Winter Meeting to be held at the Racecourse on Sunday.
Two races will be held over the sprinting distance of 1000m while the other five will be contested over 1200m.
In all, 83 runners will vie for the events, barring last-minute withdrawals.
In the feature event, the Islamabad Cup for class V division I, there are 14 acceptors, if there are no last-minute withdrawals.
Of them four come into reckoning on their recent performance during the on-going winter meetings.
They are: Green Street, Newton, Rough Tough and Manu Janu.
Three-year-old chestnut colt, Newton, who ran second behind Baker Eye on Oct 2 last should make amends.
He will however, have to face a strong challenge from Rough Tough, Manu Janu and Green Street. This will be the fourth race in racing order.
The main supporting event, the Sangla Hill Plate class IV division I handicap race has eight acceptors.
This looks a match between the two, a colt and a filly. The two in contention are the three-year-old colt, Achilles and three-year-old filly Memmoo.
A son of Cry For The Clown, Achilles has won a facile victory and is a running animal while Memmoo has not been as active on the track as her rival.
But the handicap goes in Memmoo’s favour. This will be the second and last race of the day.
The sixth race, the Sangla Hill Plate class IV division II has the smallest field of seven runners, if there are no last-minute withdrawals. The colt Like A Hero, who was beaten by Trace Hit on Oct 2 last should click this time to break duck on winning table.
He has only to beat the filly, Chici Chitta, making first appearance this season.
Four-year-old bay colt Legend, who was thrice unlucky to be beaten to second place should make amends and win the fifth race. His main rival could be Storm Warning and Key Guy Doll.
The opener, a class VII division II handicap race has the biggest field of 17 acceptors to be gone over 1000m.
This looks an open affair. The chance animals are: Ministry, Aishwarya, Miss Bank Bank and Dogar’s Gift. They should fight for the supremacy.
Royal Fish, First Passion, Mutyar and My Shanga look good in the second race, a class VII Division I handicap race over 1000m.
They should fight a close battle to win the honours.
The way Grey Swallow won on his last outing, the three-year-old should go all out to win the third race and make it two in a row.
During the holy month of Ramazan, races will be held during the day time. The first race will be held at 12.30pm.
The following are the fields and our selection.
NARANG MANDI PLATE CLASS VII DIV II 1000m.
Ministry 9-4 Thinkable 9-0 Amsterdam 9-0 Miss Bank Bank 9-0 Billo The Great 9-0 Mohabtain 9-0 Dogar’s Gift 8-11 Royal Power 8-10 Royal Palace 8-10 Beautiful Bee 8-10 My Honour 8-10 Top Figure 8-10 Aishwarya 8-10 Dam Dama Dam 8-6 Malook Star 8-3 Kosay Kaza 8-2 and Lovely Diana 7-11.
Win: Ministry.
Place: Dogar’s Gift and Aishwarya.
NARANG MANDI PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 1000m.
My SHanga 9-1 Government’s Gift 9-0 Cheeko Baba 9-0 Bird Fly 8-11 Fair Boy 8-11 Daring Bulbul 8-11 Daisy Against All 8-10 Dancing Star 8-10 Royal Fish 8-7 First Passion 8-6 Green Flag Up 8-6 Jago 8-6 Shaba Queen 8-4 Speed Gun 8-3 Murad The Great 8-2 Sohna Malook 7-13 Mutyar 7-5 and Golden Faith 7-4.
Win: Royal Fish.
Place: Mutyar and First Passion.
ISLAMABAD PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1200m.
Weldon Shogun 9-0 Chan Badshah 9-0 Well Minister 9-0 Grey Swallow 9-0 King Sound 8-13 Shannell 8-12 Take Off 8-10 Green Hill 8-8 Babbu The Great 8-6 Owais Jan 8-4 Sohna Billoo 8-4 High Hill 8-3 Namroud 8-0 Cross Rough 8-0 Zuhair Choice 8-0 Stride to Moment 7-13 and Shadow Snatcher 7-12. Win: Grey Swallow. Place: Take off and Well Minister.
ISLAMABAD CUP CLASS V DIV I 1200M.
Green Street 9-4 Hatam 9-0 Cobbler 9-0 Blu’s Wendy 9-0 Newton 8-12 Fajr 8-10 Opening Partner 8-10 Trump Coup 8-10 Rough Tough 8-9 Manu Janu 8-8 Miss Pole 8-7 Happy Mayla 8-6 Aziz Chandiwala 8-4 and Wall Street 8-3.