LAHORE: The Faiz Ahmad Faiz Cup will be the highlight of the seven-event card drawn for the 25th Lahore Winter Meeting which gets underway here at the Racecourse on Sunday.

The cup, named after the legendary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, has a tiny field of half-a-dozen thoroughbreds, some of them have shown their breadline ability to establish credentials and are to be reckoned as the real contenders for top honours. They include colt Breaking Bad and two fillies, Taksim Square and Convict for whom co-owners Fawad Ahmad Cheema and Imran Butt paid handsome money to get her on lease for a couple of years.

Last Sunday, Taksim Square had beaten Convict by a head in a classic battle decided between the pair of two high priced fillies and the war between them continues when they meet again on Sunday with minimal handicap difference. The race captures the attention of the racing public. This will be the fourth race in the racing order.

The main supporting event, the Sohna Plate Class VII Division I to be contested over 1200 metres, has nine runners. Of them, a quartet look the pick for fighting it out. They are The Great Shah, Stunning One, Barbarins Charge and Hidden Prince. If bloodline and current fitness is any criteria to pick up the winner they should finish in the same order.

The son of famed sire, Light Heavy, bay colt Great Shah trained by Shahid Rehman after winning a race has performed dismally twice but still improving with each outing. He is surely a better class colt.

Following is the field and our selections:

SOHNA PLATE CLASS VII DIV VI — 1,100M:

Hidden Fire 8-10 Fire To win 8-9 Hyper Trapper 8-2 Anaya 8-5 Zahid Love 8-5 Fazeel Prince 8-3 Chan Punjabi 8-1 Grace Of Mianwali 8-1 Awami Dera 7-13 Sultan Jahanian 7-11 and Amazing Thunder 7-11.

Fazeel Prince. Place: Amazing Thunder and Hyper Trapper. Upset: Hidden Fire.

SOHNA PLATE CLASS VII DIV V — 1,100M:

Khareef Onne 8-12 Rawal Star 8-8 Silken Black 8-6 Yellow Stone 8-6 Rana Gee 8-6 Gul-e-Jalal 8-6 Malik Badshah 8-6 Order Of The Day 8-6 Chota Bravo 8-4 Gift Of Gold 8-2merchant Of Vensu 8-0 Neeli The Great 8-0 Nalain Princess 7-12 Galactic Choice 7-12 Sweet Golden 7-10 and Safdar Princess 7-8.

Win: Chota Bravo. Place: Gifts Of Gold and Silken Black. Upset: Merchant Of Venus.

SOHNA PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV — 1,100M:

Tatla Princess 8-10 Maxi Million 8-8 Chhota Pathan 8-4 Zoaq-e-Yaqeen 8-4 Magical City 8-2 Chan Pari 7-12 and Bright Bomber 7-12.

Win: Maxi Million. Place: Chan Pari and Tatla Princess.

FAIZ AHMAD FAIZ CUP CLASS VI — 1,600M:

Breaking Bad 9-4 Taksim Square 8-0 Parsian Pearl 7-12 Gondal Gift 7-10 Timbo 7-10 and Convict 7-10.

Win: Convict vs Taksim Square.Place: Breaking Bad.

SOHNA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I — 1,200M:

JF Thunder 8-10 Surkhab 8-6 Hidden Prince 8-6 Barbarians Charge 8-4 Naymar 8-4 The Great Shah 8-2 Well Done Pakistan 8-0 Stunning One 8-0 and Hussan-e-Kainaat 7-12.

Win: The Great Shah. Place: Stunning One and Barbarians Charge.

SOHNA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I-(MAIDENS) — 1,200M:

Breezing Gates 8-10 Galactic Beauty 8-8 Zarnaj 8-7 Samore City 8-4 Market Leader 8-6 and Maha Princess 7-8.

Win: Zarnaj. Place: market Leader and Maha Princess.

SOHNA PALKTE CLASS VII DIV II & III — 1,200M:

Galactic Song 8-10 Royal Stretch 8-2 Gondal prince 8-2 Watto Choice 8-2 Wild Coast 8-0 Al Sabah 7-12 Hassan’s Champion 7-12 Divine Moment 7-8 and Zaman Sahib 7-8.

Win: Watto Choice. Place: Gondal Prince and Wild Coast.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022