February 13, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 05, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 12: Five-year-old mare Armida, who was beaten in her previous outing, should make her presence felt while contesting in the feature event during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

Owned by Syed Parvaiz Hussain Shah, Armida the bay mare from Cisco Wells out-of-Alert Dancer was beaten by the colt Houstan on Feb 6.She is now contesting in the Phularwan Plate Class VI Division II, the fifth race of the day, to be contested in the over 900 metres category.

Zahoor-e-Sehar, Sohna Billoo and Victory Gallop are noteworthy among her 17 rivals, barring last-minute withdrawals.

Chestnut mare Big Choice, who ran a good second behind Wonderful Smile who later won another race, also looks set to win the fourth and supporting event. Love minister and Sun Ray are the in form horses among her dozen rivals.

The third race will have 10 runners if there are no last-minute withdrawals. Among them So Romantic, Regulation, Victory King and Bandgi look good to fight for the spoils in a closely contested race.

Black King, Al Ain, Geo Bhakkar and Dimple are the pick of the 13 contestants’ field for the second race. The way four-year-old colt Geo Bhakkar hacked the field in his last race, he should make it a two-in-a-row. The other three should fight for places too.

The first race has a big field of 18 probable contestants, four of which — Leader’s Wing, Chocolate Boy, Sohail and Miss Mano — stand prominent due to their previous performances. Miss Mano also has a handicap advantage over the others.

Mere Lal, Lal Pari, Bioactive and Bagh-o-Bahar attract attention in the 18 runners left after the scratching out. Mere Lal is in good form to have the better of the others.

In all, 90 runners have been declared to contest in the six races. This is perhaps the largest ever number of acceptors for the midweek Lahore gymkhana races. A vast majority of them belongs to the unknown pedigree animals.

With the rise of unknown pedigrees, the Lahore Race Club (LRC) has assumed the status of a sprawling and bustling town of unknown-pedigree horses apart from the thoroughbreds. Credit for this goes to LRC chairman Tariq Aziz, who opened the door for such horses in the gymkhana races. The stipendiary steward Waheed Akhtar had also been advocating for a grant in clearing their way into the contests and the practice paid well monetarily.

The fact remains that today every stable, big or small, has such animals with a majority of them contributing towards their prosperity as well as keeping the racing wheel moving.

At present, there is a big queue awaiting its turn to debut in the gymkhana races.

The first race commences at 12.30pm.

KAMALIA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I-A 900M:

Leader’s Wing 9-0, Red Byron 9-0, Shandar 9-0, Best Owner 9-0, Geo 9-0, Taqdeer-e-Bhakkar 9-0, Chocolate Boy 8-12, Anarkali 8-10, Aman 8-10, Rokkra 8-10, Waqas Prince 8-6, Lucky Boy 8-6, Little Love 8-6, Barry Lal 8-6, Summaya 8-2, Sohail 8-2, Muskan 8-2 and Miss Mano 7-12.

Win: Leader’s Wing. Places: Chocolate Boy and Miss Mano.

PHULARWAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV IV 900 M:

Black King 9-0, Tosca 9-0, Arzoo 8-10, Grey Dancer 8-10, Better Time 8-4, Ai Ain 8-2, Geo Bhakkar 8-0, Dimple 7-12, Mah-e-Noor 7-10, Company 7-10, Gold Dust 7-10, God Gift 7-10 and Pretty 7-10.

Win: Geo Bhakkar. Place: Dimple and Al Ain.

PHULARWAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV III & IV 900M:

So Romantic 9-0, Great Rhythm 9-0, Regulation 8-10, Gold Round 8-8, Victory King 8-6, Great Khan 8-0, Pearl City 7-12, Bandgi 7-10, Lucky Coin 7-10 and Total Price 7-10.

Win: So Romantic. Place: Regulation and Bandgi.

PHULARWAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 900M:

Ahsan The Great 9-0, Big Power 9-0, Love Minister 8-12, Sher-e-Lahore 8-10, Dam Dama Dam 8-10, Never Fail 8-10, Big Choice 8-8, Nut Cracker 8-8, Look My Luck 8-8, Lubna 8-8, Sun Ray 8-4, Red Fairy 8-0 and White Oaks 8-0.

Win: Big Choice. Place: Love Minister and Sun Ray.

PHULARWAN PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 900M:

Golden Road 9-0, Super Sonic 9-0, Safari 8-10, Hallow Handsome 8-10, Gold Bird 8-10, Umer Prince 8-10, Little Smile 8-9, Armida 8-9, Zahoor-e-Sehar 8-8, Dream Prince 8-6, Desert Glow 8-6, Shah Rani 8-6, Jageerdarni 8-6, Pumey De Jan 8-4, Cleopatra 8-4, Eve 7-10, Sohna Billoo 7-10 and Victory Gallop 7-10.

Win: Armida. Place: Sohna Billoo and Zahoor-e-Sehar.

KAMALIA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I-B 900M:

Mere Lal 9-0, Sana 8-12, Billal Love 8-10, Tarrar Chice 8-10, Trgger Happy 8-10, Sohna Murad 8-10, Pure Power 8-6, CashDeposite 8-6, Sohni Bulbul 8-6, Sohni Noor 8-6, Hit Song 8-2, Lal Pari 8-2, Bagh-o-Bahar 8-2, Mosaic 8-0, Pukkar 7-10, Kiss Of Love 7-10, Bioactive 7-10 and Ahsan Love 7-10.

Win: Mere Lal. Place: Lal Pari and Bioactive.-