LAHORE: A seven-event card featuring a cup race awaits racegoers for the 19th Lahore Winter Meeting which gets under way here at the Racecourse on Sunday.

The main event, the Metropolitan Fillies Trial Cup, a term race for four-year-old fillies to be contested over 1,400 metres, containing ten thoroughbreds which represent the country’s top sires will be jostling for supremacy.

The cup race has been instituted for the first time by Lahore Race Club (LRC) chairman Makhdum Syed Ahmad Mahmud to boost thoroughbred breeding, which has been making a rapid progress in standard and quality production to meet home needs.

A daughter of US sire Nayel, Sarabi, which is owned jointly by Fawad Ahmad Cheema and Imran Butt, will be the favourite filly to win top honours while Queen, Fox Trot and Al Bahar would be her challengers in this race, the fifth of the day.

The supporting event, the Yasoob Plate Class VII Division I to be gone over 1,300 metres has six runners. It looks a duel between two fast emerging thoroughbreds — British sire Galactic Star’s colt Sir and Tybalt’s colt Manthaar.

The third race, the Yasoob Plate Class VII Division II to be contested over 1,300 metres, has eleven runners. Strangely enough the daughter of US sire, Western Choice Cousin Cary owned by co-owners, Syed Pervez Hussain and Azmat Ali Ranjha, still maiden in ten outings is being favoured to win among rivals who had one or more wins including nine-year-old chestnut Gondal Prince which has nine wins to his credit and has been placed 37 times in 112 outings to-date. Murtajil and Al Shouq could be the challengers.

The sixth race, to be contested over 1,000 metres, has the largest field of fourteen runners. The quartet of HP One, Mahikan, Pani Pat and Tatla Prince should fight for the honours in this race.

The first and the second race will be run over the dust track.

In the opener UK Star, Safdar Princess and and Fall In Love while Ibram Prince, Hidden Gem, Pride Of Chandrai and Merchant Of Venus may form the quartet for punters’ choice.

In all, 72 acceptors are likely to run in seven races with the first race set to be held at 12:00 noon.

It is notified for the information of visitors that from Sunday (today) the entry ticket has been fixed at Rs1,000 per person.

Published in Dawn, january 8th, 2023