LAHORE, Jan 8: With the advent of the new-year, the Lahore Race Club (LRC) embarks upon an ambitious four-month semi-classic, classic and handicap racing schedule which has already been unveiled for its Winter Meetings from Jan to May 1.

The programme has already been started with the staging of the Jinnah Cup on Dec 27, a term race for three-year-old colts and fillies contested over 1,600 metres participated by most of the semi-classic and classic contenders including the Pakistan Derby 2011.

The prospectus highlights the important event to be held during the next four months with the laid down conditions for the contestants in the tern races, semi-classic and classic event besides handicap races.

The star attraction of the meetings is the Queen Elizabeth II Cup named after the British sovereign and the Pakistan Derby 2011.

The important cup races to be held with the scheduled staging dates in brackets are: Ghaznavi Cup (Jan 9), Ravi Cup (Jan 16), Mountain Dew Cup, Nero Cup and Qasim Cup (Jan 20), Queen Elizabeth Cup, Coca Cola Pakistan Derby 2011, National Breeders Cup and Anarkali Cup (March 6), Mohiuddin Mohammad Aurangzeb Alamgir Cup (March 13), Eclipse Stakes Of Pakistan (March 20), Nero’s Dream Cup (March 270 Attock Petroleum Cup for three-year-old and Attock Petroleum Cup for four-year-old (April 23)Midas Royal Ascot Cup and Farewell Cup (May 1).

The initial concept of the meeting race programme when introduced in 1924 was to promote horse breeding in the northern parts of the country, then ruled by British. To begin with eight meetings used to be held during winter season from Jan to March. The order remained the same until the birth of the new country Pakistan founded by the Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The meetings number was raised to sixteen gradually by the year 1976 when the Lahore Race Club was shifted to its present site in down town Kot Lakhpat.

It took at least eight years to put the club on rails and the equine sports on sound footing and gradually the number of meeting races brought exactly what it used to be in 1970s. From the year 2003 to 2006 was the golden period when eight-month long winter meetings and followed by Summer Meetings were held with fabulous prizes on offer to horses placed first, second and third in each race.

During this period the sports got patronage of the princes and the national and multi-national firms by way of donations and sponsorship of events worth Rs43, 634,000.

Horse owners, trainers riders benefited immensely during the same period which gave big boost to horse breeding. With the result over three dozen stud farms were engaged in producing horses, of which half-a-dozen are among the top breeders in the private sector besides a couple of them in the public sector.

At present things have drastically changed and the horse-breeding and racing industry is feeling an acute economic crunch and surviving with a reduced financial support from some firms. But this has not down the morale of those at the handlers of industry who are hoping against hope for the return of golden days ahead.

Prominent horse owner Mahmood Khan, while talking to Dawn, said the owners, trainers, riders and breeders have a firm resolve to sail the industry ship safely through the rocks come what may.

He said the horse breeding and racing is the fifth single largest industry with which thousands of people are connected and earning bread for their families. He said ever-increasing inflation, trade deficit, low production and colossal debt burden has led the country towards economic chaos and it had adverse affects on horse breeding and racing industry too like the other industries We hope good days to dawn.—AG