June 29, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1429

LAHORE, June 28: Given her current form, three-year-old filly Princess Ginza will be on song to register her second successive victory during the day/night Lahore Summer Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday evening.

The six-event card will be the last edition of the Lahore Racing calendar 2007-08.

Princess Ginza (Prince Legend-Miss Ginza), owned by the Lahore Race Club (LRC) ex-steward Raja Khushbakht-ur-Rehman, has one brilliant victory to her credit, when she beat another fine bred filly Tinker Bell, owned by Mian Maahir Ahmad, on June 8 last. Both fillies have since then not appeared on the track. Princess Ginza looks the day’s best proposition in the fourth race of the day.

The mare Dillagi, Naseeb Apna Apna, Big Bird and Sweet Lady are the form horses to fight for places among a dozen runners. The Landhi Plate is a class VI, division A-I handicap race to be gone over 1,000 metres.

The fifth and the feature event, the Minchinabad Plate, class IV, to be gone over 1,000 metres has a tiny field of six runners. The fastest of them are a filly Bright Flame and the two mares Chill and Noor.

Owned by Arbab Aamir Ayub, the three-year-old filly Bright Flame seems to have an edge over the others. Chill and Noor may fight for the second position.

The main supporting event, the Hyderabad Plate class V, division I and II combined has 11 runners, barring last-minute withdrawals.

Five-year-old horse Munsaf, who ran second behind Noor last Sunday should make amends this time and win the race. For his careless handling Munsaf’s rider Tariq Habib was fined Rs2,000 by the stewards.

Qasid, Houstan and Richy Dancer may be fighting for places in this race to be contested over the 1,000 metres distance.

Mian Maahir Ahmad’s four-year-old colt Scooby Do is doing well on the track and is therefore fancied to win the third race. Scooby Do had been rated very high by the connections who have been betting heavily on him in the past. He performed contrary to his rating in the races but the connections have still not lost all hope. Let’s see how he fares on Sunday.

Brave Heart and Rough Tough are the only form horses in the 11-horse field to pose Scooby Do a challenge. The other eight runners are yet to prove their worth.

The second race has the biggest field of 18-runners and is packed with many sprinters. Going by their recent form and performances, three, namely, Al Ain, Dream Memories and Rang De Basanti, come into reckoning. They should fight in the same order, if fancied by their respective stables.

In the first race, Dam Dama Dam, Chocolate Boy and Smiling Assassin are the form horses. Smiling Assassin has been showing improvement consistently on each running and had already been accredited with a hat-trick of victories. On his last outing, owner Munir Dar was apprehensive of his chances but in spite of this he defied being placed in handicap and won his third race to complete the rare feat. With a similar improvement he can make it four in a row.

Dam Dama Dam and Chocolate Boy will vie for places.

The last edition of the Lahore racing calendar 2007-08 may not be so important for jockey Shahid Rehman and trainer Sohail Aziz as both have already secured top position on the jockeys and trainers statistic table to win the championship.

Shahid Rehman had already achieved the highest number of wins bringing home 77 winners. How many more he can add is meaningless as far as the championship goes. Nearest among his rivals is M. Hanif with 33 wins.

Sohail Aziz has sent out 60 winners and seems to be fully satisfied with this achievement as he has fielded only one horse on Sunday.

A card of six events will be gone through during the day/night races. All events will be contested over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres. The first race is scheduled to be held at 5.30pm.

The following are the fields and our selections:

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III & IV A 1,000M:

Dam Dama Dam 9-2, First Dream 8-6, Noor Pari 8-2, Mera Nawab 8-2, Suleman Love 8-0, Smiling Assassin 8-0, Chocolate Boy 7-10, Mega Power 7-10, Black King 7-8 and White Oaks 7-4.

Win: Dam Dama Dam.

Place: Chocolate boy and Smiling Assassin.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Little Smile 9-0, Happy Win 9-0, Red Carpet 9-0, Jewna 8-12, Rang De Basanti 8-12, Kind Minister 8-10, Rana Choice 8-6, Bashaesh Prince 8-6, Remember You 8-6, Cleopatra 8-6, Khizer Love 8-6, Mikado 8-6, Miss Nilofer 8-6, Free Hit 8-2, Freeze 8-2, So Romantic 8-2, Al Ain 8-0 and Dream Memories 7-12.

Win: Al Ain.

Place: Rang De Basanti and Dream Memories.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-B 1,000M:

Scooby Do 9-0, Rough Tough 9-0, Brave Heart 8-12, Pakeeza 8-10, Victory Hero 8-10, Golden Addition 8-10, Love Story 8-10, Royal Guester 8-10, Royal Storm 8-10, Umer Prince 8-8 and Super Sonic 8-2.

Win: Scooby Do.

Place: Rough Tough and Brave Heart.

LANDHI PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-A 1,000M:

Love Minister 9-0, Princess Ginza 9-0, Big Bird 8-12, Black House 8-12, Dillagi 8-12, Diamond Sky 8-12, Striker 8-12, Sweet Lady 8-10, Naseeb Apna Apna 8-8, Secret Memories 8-8, Stride To Moment 8-4 and Royal Passion 8-4.

Win: Princess Ginza. Place: Naseeb Apna Apna and Sweet Lady.

MINCHINABAD PLATE

CLASS IV 1,000M:

Magic Stride 9-0, Harry Can View 9-0, Bright Flame 9-0, Chill 8-12, Noor 8-10 and Will He Wish 8-8.

Win: Bright Flame.

Place: Chill or Noor.

HYDERABAD PLATE CLASS V

DIV I & II 1,000M:

Munsaf 9-2, Hello Dancer 9-0, Houstan 8-12, Richy Dancer 8-12, Handsome Hope 8-6, Qasid 8-2, Alishba 8-0, Magic Queen 7-10, Blue Fire 7-8, Arzoo 7-8 and Cobbler 7-4.

Win: Munsaf.

Place: Houstan and Qasid.