LAHORE, Dec 13: With two impressive wins on the trot, three-year-old bay colt Shock Wave starts off as the favourite to complete a hat-trick of victories when the Lahore Winter Meeting gets underway at the Racecourse on Sunday.

He is contesting in the Khyber Cup, a class IV handicap race and the fifth in a card of six events chalked out for the afternoon.

The colt’s brilliant turf account with four wins, a second and a third in his seven outings to date is an indicator of the class he belongs to.

He will, however, have three-year-old colt Punjabi with a matching turf record of four wins and three second places in seven runnings so far besides fillies Great Memories and Lucky Cat as constant thorns in his side going over the sprinting distance of 1,000 metres.

Nayab, a beautifully-bred filly, is another three-year-old looking set to steal the honour in the first race to be run in the over 1,000 metres distance.

A daughter of Bedouin Invader, the prolific sire owned by Mirza Khurshid Baig, Nayab was unlucky to finish second in his outing on Nov 19. But she should be making amends this time by winning the race.

Sun City, Sun Ray and Al Ain should fight for places on the board.

Racing fans should witness a keen contest in the fourth event of the card, with Rustam, Royal Gesture and Reborn vying to pick top honours.

Rustam is fancied to edge out the other two, also very speedy animals.

Speedy bay colt Victory Sargent looks a good prospect to pick up the spoils in the second race. But he’ll be facing serious challenge from Miss Brave Heart, Chimera and the Tripple Star. The third race consisting of a big field of 15 runners, barring last-minute withdrawals, seems packed with over half-a-dozen speedy customers.

Of them three, namely, Munsaf, Brave Heart and Lighting Muqeem, seem to have an advantage after looking at their recent form and running. Munsaf, the fastest of the three, holds an edge, provided his owner/trainer thinks so. Colt Houstan has no recent form but is decidedly a better animal in every respect.

Three-year-old blue roan filly Fakhar-e-Sialkot, beaten a month ago under a weak rider, will have to bring out her very best to overcome Credit Card, Unter and Cleopatra.

A card of six events will go through on Sunday. All events will be contested in the over 1,000 metres category. The first race starts at 1:00pm.

Following is the field and our selections:

SAHIWAL PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-B 1,000M:

Sabat Qadam 9-0, Umar Prince 9-0, Miss Hattab 8-13, Sultan 8-13, Ice Burg 8-12, Zoaq 8-8, Nayab 8-8, Sun Ray 8-8, Al Ain 8-6, Amazing Boy 8-6.

Win: Nayab.

Place: Sun City and Al Ain.

SAHIWAL PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-A 1,000M:

Dream Memories 9-0, Shamsun Nisa 8-10, Victory Sargent 8-10, Diamond Key 8-10, Tayyab 8-10, Miss Brave Heart 8-10, Tripple Star 8-8, Harry Can Run 8-6, Chimera 8-2.

Win: Victory Sargent.

Place: Miss Brave Heart and Tripple Star.

MIAN CHANNU PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1,000M:

Iconic 9-0, Shim Jim 8-13, Houstan 8-11, Munsaf 8-11, Brave Heart 8-7, Greyish 8-7, One By One 8-7, Daud Prince 8-7, Black Mamba 8-7, Valour 8-7, Magic Queen 8-5, Future Perfect 8-3, Big Bird 8-3, Lighting Muqeem 8-1, The News 8-0.

Win: Munsaf.

Place: Brave Heart and Lighting Muqeem.

MIAN CHANNU PLATE CLASS V DIV I & II 1,000M:

Rustam 9-0, Pick Of The Day 8-5, Royal Gesture 8-1, Janu 8-1, Victory Bulbul 8-1, Alishiba 7-11, Sweet Lady 7-11, Can Can Girl 7-11, Raksh-e-Raqeeban 7-11, Mikkado 7-10, Reborn 7-6.

Win: Rustam.

Place: Reborn and Royal Gesture.

KHYBER CUP CLASS IV

DIV I, II & III 1,000M:

Lucifer 9-10, Punjabi 9-4, Apex 8-12, Lucky Cat 8-6, Chock Wave 7-12, Tipu Sultan 7-12, Great Memories 7-8, Miss Liza 7-4, Secret Memories 7-4, Richy Dancer 7-4.

Win: Shock Wave.

Place: Great Memories and Punjabi.

SAHIWAL PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 1,000M:

Cleopatra 9-0, Mashal 9-0, Dizzy Heights 9-0, Scarlet Empress 8-12, King Of Murad 8-10, Stride To Moment 8-10, Credit Card 8-10, Unter 8-8, Last Option 8-1, Love Story 8-6, Fakhar-e-Sialkot 7-13.

Win: Fakhar-e-Sialkot.

Place: Credit Card and Unter.