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LAHORE, April 14: On form and past performances, Grecianette has advantage over others in the feature event of the 33rd Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday.
The feature event, Neelum Cup Class-I, II and III, will be a close contest among local and imported thoroughbreds when a card of six races featuring two cup events be held.
Three English thoroughbreds – Grecianette, Go With The Wind and Miss Thailand – are up to vie for the top honour.
Grecianette, a progeny of Night Shift, has so far won three races and once captured third position in her four outings.
Go With The Wind, a daughter of Bertolini, has so far proved her mettle in two races and placed second thrice in her six outings.
Miss Thailand has won two races, claimed second spot once and third spot twice in her five outings.
The three English thoroughbreds have met thrice earlier, but none of them dominated the course. They are now measuring each other's strides to decide bloodline supremacy.
There is yet another English thoroughbred filly Sun Stroke. Daughter of Raphane and owned by Mirza Khurshid Baig, Sun Stroke has not shown any bloodline spark in her three outings.
This will be the fifth race of the day and contested over 1600 metres.
The supporting event, Spring Cup, a class-five division-one handicap race which will be contested over 1300 metres, has eleven runners. Of them three come into reckoning. They are: Rough Tough, Blue Fire and King Of Murad.
On recent form, Rough Tough seems better placed in handicap. This will be the fourth race.
Four-year-old filly Chill and two colts – Jut Bahadur and Quince – are the three speed masters among the seven horses drawn for the Hyderabad Plate, a class-IV division-II race, contested over 1200 metres.
If nothing goes wrong, Chill should win the sixth and last race of the day.
Three-year-old filly Spiritual Song will be going all out to make it two in a row in the second race. Among her seven rivals, Safe And Sound, Striker and Sharp Burg should fight for less remunerative positions.
Four-year-old colt Prince Of Bhakkar looks a cut above in class in the field of nine runners for the Hyderabad Plate Class-IV Division-III race which will be held over 1200 metres. Great Murad, War Admiral and Miss Photogenic should fight for the frame.
Filly Great Bulbul, who was beaten in her previous running, should make amends this time and win the first race which will be run over 1100 metres.
The race will be held at 2.30pm.
Following are the fields and our selection.
KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE CLASS-VII DIV-I 1100M:
Great Bulbul 9-0, Bold Act 9-0, Tallal The Great 9-0, Handsome Hope 9-0, Malang Aya 9-0, Stride To Moment 8-12, Gold Round 8-6, Star Dust 8-4, Weldon 8-2 and Zoaq 8-2.
Win: Great Bulbul.
Place: Stride To Moment and Zoaq.
SPRING PLATE CLASS-V DIV-II 1300M:
Spiritual Song 9-2, Sharp Burg 8-11, Love Affair 8-10, Willhewish 8-10, Poli Cat 8-10, Striker 8-6, Shere Lahore 8-6, Safe And Sound 8-3 and Bahar-e-Bhakkar 7-8.
Win: Spiritual Song.
Place: Sharp Burg and Safe And Sound.
HYDERABAD PLATE CLASS-IV
DIV-III 1200M:
Prince Of Bhakkar 9-4, Great Murad 9-3, Miss Photogenic 9-3, War Admiral 9-1, Harry Can Run 8-13, Lovely Gate 8-6, Armida 8-3, Azam Love 8-0 and Cross Ruff 7-10.
Win: Prince Of Bhakkar.
Place: Great Murad and War Admiral.
SPRING CUP CLASS-V DIV-I 1300M:
Desert Queen 9-0, Volcano 9-0, Fruity 8-10, Blue Fire 8-10, Owais Dream 8-8, Lucky Cat 8-4, Miss Play 8-3, Rough Tough 8-3, King Of Murad 8-2, Creek Cat 7-12 and Mama Mia 7-12.
Win: Rough Tough.
Place: King Of Murad and Blue Fire.
NEELUM CUP CLASS-I, II, III 1600M:
Grecianette 10-8, Go With The Wind 10-4, Miss Thailand 10-0, Gold Krik 8-5, Sun Stroke 8-1, Lucky Winner 8-1 and Total Surprise 7-10.
Win: Grecianette.
Place: Miss Thailand and Go With The Wind.
HYDERABAD PLATE CLASS-IV
DIV-II 1200M:
Jut Bahadur 9-4, Royal Fish 9-2, Chill 9-2, Zanjeer 8-10, Nosheen 8-8, Noor 8-5 and Quince 8-2.
Win: Chill.
Place: Jut Bahadur and Quince.
