LAHORE, March 20: Puma The Great will be favourite to win the feature event, Sargodha Plate Class-V Division-I, when a card of five events go through during the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

The feature event which is the fifth race of the day has eight runners barring last-minute withdrawals. The majority of them are on chance to make it an open affair. Apart from Puma The Great, Cobbler, Blue Fire and Fruity have a good chance on the basis of recent form and classification.

The first three races will be contested over 900 metres while the remaining two will go over 1100 metres.

Riders will be finalised just two hours before start of the first race.

An owner, Mahmood Khan while talking to Dawn said they were facing shortage of riders as many of them had left for other countries for better livelihood.

Three-year-old colt Striker, who was beaten to second place by Mama Mia on March 11, should make amends and win this time in the third race, a class-seven division-one handicap event to be contested over 900 metres. However, his task will not be so easy in the presence of Royal Fish, Fearless Boy and Iconic, who are capable of turning the tables on Striker.

Bahar-e-Bhakkar, the seven-year-old bay horse, looks a good proposition in the fourth race, the Sargodha Plate Class-V Division-XI, to be contested over 1100 metres. His close rivals could be Rana Choice and Mama Mia.

The second race has a biggest field of 14 runners provided there are no last-minute withdrawals. Those on chance are Blu's Wendy, Tosca, Princess Afaq and Faryal. On classification ten-year-old horse Blu's Wendy stands out while Tosca should head the vanguard of challengers.

Dam Dama Dam, Simoom and Company look good among the eight-runners field for the opener. On handicap Dam Dama Dam stands a good chance of prevailing over the others. The race will start at 2:30pm.

Following are the fields and our selection.

SOHAWA PLATE CLASS-VII DIV-XI 900M: