LAHORE, Oct 28: A competitive card of six events has been drawn up for the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races to be held at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

The entries have shown a slight increase as compared to the normal midweek day number with a major thrust from unknown pedigree horses.

In all, 71 runners have accepted taking part in the events, barring last-minute withdrawals.

The horses are handicapped in a way that there remain in the field five or more chance horses in each race, making them more competitive. Picking a winner then becomes a difficult task for the punters. But those that click can also hope for handsome dividends.

The feature event, the Kharian Plate, class VI, Division II to go over 1,000 metres, has the second largest field comprising 14-runners. It’s a combination of pedigree and non-pedigree horses. Four of them, namely, Hermatic, Stride To Moment, Aaja Bulbul and Love Minister, look on chance.

The bay mare Hermatic, after a facile victory, put up a dismal show last Sunday and her rider paid the penalty with a six-month suspension and fine of Rs10,000. She can make amends for her defeat and win the race this time.

On handicap, she can face a strong challenge from Stride To Moment and Aaja Bulbul. Both are appearing on the track after a few weeks’ absence.

This will be the last race of the day.

The fifth and supporting event, the Kharian Plate, class VI, Division II, is to be contested by 13 runners. Of them four, namely, Creek Cat, High Quality, Suleman Love and Black King, look on good chance. They should fight it out with better support from the saddle giving them an edge.

Though Creek Cat, the four-year-old bay filly from Trace Creek out-of-Top Credit, is a well-bred filly, she has disappointed her connections so far. Having come down in handicap now, she should be able to wrap up a victory at last.

Three horses are very prominent on current form and running in races in the fourth race with the largest field of 15-runners, if there are no last-minute withdrawals. The four-year-old horse Candidate, with two back-to-back victories, will be going all out to hit the limelight by completing a hat-trick of wins. Deluxe, Red Baron and Shan-e-Aamir will like constant thorns in his side all along the 900 metres.

The third race has a tiny field of seven runners, if all make it to the start. The ones on chance are Muskan, Leader’s Wing and Bobby Love. They should finish in the same order, too.

Miss Mano, Kiss Of Luck and Alpha Juliet are the pick on form and performance in the second race. They are expected to fight for the spoils with Miss Mano having an edge on form.

Best Choice, Aa Ja Aa Ja and Pakistani look good in the first race, which consists of runners in the lowest division of class VII. This is always an open affair because of the inconsistency of the runners, who are unpredictable in their performance.

It is said that some showing good running on the track exercise put up an altogether different show in the race. Perhaps they lack training in the company of a big group and are shy of running in the field.

If one goes by the track work, former national hockey team skipper Munir Dar’s Pakistani can prevail over the other 10 rivals.

Four races will be contested over 900 metres while be two over 1,000 metres. The first race will start at 2.00pm.

Following are the fields and our selections:

BHERA PLATE CLASS VII DIV IV 900M:

Raftar-e-Sehar 9-0, Bella Rani 8-10, Best Choice 8-6, Fredy’s Café 8-6, Raza The Great

8-6, Aa Ja Aa Ja 8-5, King’s UK 8-5, Pakistani 8-5, Easy Load 8-2, Pukar 7-10 and Naimat Aie 7-8.

Win: Pakistani.

Place: Best Choice and Aa Ja Aa Ja.

BHERA PLATE CLASS VII DIV III 900M:

Smore Princess 9-0, Kastori 9-0, Aie Basanti 9-0, Miss Mano 9-0, Babbu Jee 9-0, Kiss Of Love 8-8, Raksh-e-Chaman 8-7, Blank Cheque 8-3, Sudden Attack 8-1, Alpha Juliet 7-13 and Lal Pari 7-8.

Win: Miss Mano.

Place: Kiss Of Love and Alpha Juliet.

BHERA PLATE CLASS VII

DIV I & II 900M:

Master Jee 9-4, Bobby Love 9-3, Leader’s Wing 8-12, Profit 8-10, Muskan 8-8, Farjan Prince 8-6 and Gypsy 8-6.

Win: Muskan.

Place: Leader’s Wing and Bobby Love.

BHERA PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 900M:

My One 9-0, Best Owner 9-0, Lucky 9-0, Fantastic Look 9-0, Little Mehak 9-0, Laughing Queen 9-0, Naveed-e-Sehar 9-0, Suraj 9-0, Snow White 9-0, Moj-e-Sikanderi 8-10, Candidate 8-10, Red Baron 8-7, Sana My Love 8-7 and Shan-e-Aamir 8-6.

Win: Candidate.

Place: Deluxe and Red Baron.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III & IV 1,000M:

Creek Cat 9-0, Hgh Quality 8-13, Tara Aya 8-10, Black King 8-6, Suleman Love 8-6, Weldon Shogun 8-2, Murad The Great 8-2, Mahima 7-8, Sun Ray 7-8, Hikmat 7-8, Happy Life 7-8, Happy Bear 7-8 and Pretty 7-8.

Win: Creek Cat.

Place: Suleman Love and High Quality.

KHARIAN PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Hermatic 9-0, Miss Brave Heart 8-13, Stride To Moment 8-10, Little Smile 8-9, Jang Ju 8-9, Aaja Bulbul 8-7, Love Minister 8-6, Bird Fly 8-3, Untar 8-2, Royal Command 8-1, Murad King 8-0, Geo Bhakkar 7-13, Super Sonic 7-13 and dream Act 7-10.

Win: Hermatic.

Place: Stride To Moment and Aaja Bulbul.