August 06, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 3, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 5: A tricky card of six-event has been drawn for the day/night midweek Lahore Gymkhana races to be held at the Racecourse on Wednesday evening.

Astonishingly, there is a reasonable turnout in each race in site of weather forecast of rains in the provincial metropolis city. Each event comprises mostly chance horses except those, who have not yet broken their maiden’s duck.

The runners are tightly handicapped to provide a suitable ground for the bookmakers to reap a good harvest and picking winners a difficult task for punters.

It has been seen that the Lahore Race Club (LRC) is obsessed by bookmakers’ mafia and is endearing its best to provide them a hilt to drub punters every day. And if by chance punters win it is due to their good luck and comes as a bolt from the blue on the turf accountants.

This is a strange phenomenon in spite of the fact the bookies are causing colossal financial loss to the club by holding syndicated stalls to accept bets. In majority stalls, five or six bookmakers are shareholders but only one pays the fee to the club. They do not let any new bookmaker come. They pressurize the club to handicap horses in a way to their benefit.

Riders are changed, two or three in each race when they point out or name horses of their selection.

To keep them away from the race club, many countries have banned bookmakers and instead installed computerized totalisators as replacement. And in few countries where they are allowed to operate stalls, they have no such endearments as given by the LRC.

A couple of bookmakers claim to have links with political leaders and they thrive on it.

In countries where bookmakers are allowed to operate, they firmly believe the racing is a chariot drawn by punters, horse-owners, bookmakers besides trainers and riders.

They are considered equally at par with no preference to any over the other But the LRC case seems to be different and if things go the same way the bookmakers will take over the club one day, if not legally then financially. Their aim is to make money by any means.

On Wednesday if all chance horses are on job the results of majority races will be unpredictable. The position will crystal clear when the declarations of riders in each race are announced two hours before the start of the races.

The feature event, the Sargodha Plate class VI division II has 10 runners. Of them Naseeb Apna Apna, Jang Ju, Black King and Murad The Great are on chance.

They will fight for the top honours with the first named having advantage on form but who knows in what condition he is brought to race.

It is no secret horses are being doped to slow or fast their performances.

The fifth and supporting event has 11 runners comprising mostly repaired and out of form horses. This looks an open affair.

Delux, Bagh-o-Bahar and Pretty are the form runners in the fourth race to fight for picking up the spoils. They should finish in the same order.

Khan Baba, Muskan and Shandar are the pick of the 14 listed for the third race.

Muskan is oriented to the distance and may have the better of others.

Golden Falcon, Kiss Of Love and Come On are the form ones in the second race with Golden Falcon enjoying a touch of better form. Sana, Lal Pari, Cash Box and Pakistani look good in the opener.

The performance of Sana,

has not been as she should have shown in her outings recently.

All events are to be contested over 900 metres. The first race will be held at 5.30pm.

The following is the field and our selections:

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VII

DIV IV 900M:

Pakistani 9-0, Cash Box 8-12, Azeem Prince 8-10, King’s UK 8-6, Cash Deposit 8-6, Banjaran 8-2, Sana 8-0, Billoo Love 7-10, Lal Pari 7-10, Sohail 7-8, Golden Queen 7-8, Kundan 7-8, Ahsan Love 7-8.

Win: Sana.

Place: Lal Pari and Cash Box.

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VII

DIV III 900M:

Dynamite 9-0, Easy Load 9-0, Azad Panchi 9-0, Kotli 8-10, Client 8-8, Scented Dust 8-8, Golden Falcon 8-8, Racing Bridge 8-6, Best Choice 8-6, Kiss Of Love 8-0, Come On 7-4.

Win: Golden Falcon.

Place: Come On and Kiss Of Love.

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VII

DIV II & III 900M:

Ronaq Mayla 9-0, Kastori 9-0, Sweet Candy 9-0, Prince Of Chanrai 9-0, Ahmed The Great 9-0, My Hope 8-10, Farjan Prince 8-10, Fredy’s Café 8-10, Majid Love 8-10, Khan Baba 8-8, Miss Mano 8-6, Muskan 8-4, Changer 8-0, Shandar 7-10.

Win: Muskan.

Place: Khan Baba and Shandar.

KHUSHAB PLATE CLASS VII

DIV I 900M:

Great Desert 9-0, Khushi (ex-Bolly Wood Queen) 9-0, Kainat 8-10, Pappu Prince 8-10, Lion Horse 8-10, Sohna Murad 8-6, Cash Prince 8-6, Pretty 8-0, Bagh-o-Bahar 8-0, Delux 7-10, Porche 7-8.

Win: Delux.

Place: Pretty and Bagh-o-Bahar.

SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III & IV 900M:

Batista 9-0, Aaja Bulbul 8-6, Hikmat 8-6, Mah-e-Noor II 8-2, Black Leopard 7-12, High Hope 7-12, Basant Mayla 7-12, Malang Aya 7-4 Boogy Woogy 7-4, Dogar Gift 7-4.

Win and Place: Watch the ring.

SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 900M:

Naseeb Apna Apna 9-4, Quwat-e-Bhakkar 9-0, Pretty Princess 9-0, Sona 8-12, Sona Bhai 8-10, Jang Ju 8-10, Fakhar-e-Sialkot 8-6, Black King 8-4, Murad The Great 8-0, Tipu Prince 7-12.

Win: Naseeb Apna Apna.

Place: Murad The Great and Jang Ju.