LAHORE: Two cup races highlight a five-event card when the third day/night Lahore Summer Meeting gets under way here at the Racecourse on Sunday.

Recent rains have turned the grass track lush green leaving under-foot conditions very comfortable for horses which has attracted 44 runners for today’s races.

The feature event, Moon Soon Cup, a Class VII Division 1 (Class VI Division IV included) to be gone over 1,100 metres has seven runners.

On recent form and the handicap, a quartet seems to the real contenders. They are chest filly Muqadas, colt Mera Gondal and five-year-old horses Gondal Gift and Well Done Pakistan.

They should fight it out for top honours in this race, the fourth in the order.

The supporting feature event, Rainbow Cup, Class VII Division V to be gone over 1,000 metres contains nine runners. It looks an open affair with at least six horses in chance.

Noman The Great, Jalpana Fire and Wonder Boy are the picks out of the ten runners drawn for the opener, the Ravi Plate Class VII Division VI to be contested over 1,000 metres.

Bay colt Last Of Us, beaten twice on his previous outings, should make amends this time and win the third race, Ravi Plate Class VII Division I, II & III over 1,000 metres. Bay colt Lucky Sohna and bay fillies Danzora and Meri Malangni should be his challengers.

Chestnut Fortuner, in spite of his placing on top of handicap with nine stones four pounds, should break his maiden’s duck in the fifth and the last race, the Ravi Plate of Class VII Division III, IV and V to be contested over 1,000 metres. Although Fortuner has not done well in the past 16 outings but coming from a good pedigree may help him prevail over his seven opponents.

Meanwhile, the management has notified a slight change in the time schedule of declaration of riders — two hours before the start of race and taking out of draws one-and-a-half-hour before the start of the first race. A notification issued on Thursday announced the new schedule.

The first race starts at 6:00pm.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2022