LAHORE: A seven-event card featuring three important cup races awaits race-goers when the fifth Lahore day/night Winter Meeting gets under way at the Racecourse here on Sunday.

The feature event, the Zaheer-ud-Din Mohammad Babar Cup — a term race for two-year-old thoroughbred and half-bred colts and fillies to be gone over 900 metres, has 11 acceptors. It’s a maiden race for two-year-old this season but on breeding class two colts Alpha and Khokhar One look to be the real contenders.

The main supporting feature, the Noor-ud-Din Zangi Cup — a class VI division I, II, III and IV to be contested over 1300 metres, has seven runners from which two colts Mr Perfect and Big Beat and the filly Hash Tag look set to be vying for the honours.

The second supporting feature, the Jockey Memraize Cup to be contested over 1000 metres, has a big field of 13 runners in which the contest for top spot seemes to be between colt Chhota Pathan, mare Neeli The Great and the red-roan Zoaq-e-Yaqeen.

The other four races on the card have seven to eleven runners field and may produce some exciting contests. The first race will be held at 3.30pm.

MAKHDUM RE-ELECTED CHAIRMAN

The LRC held its Annual General meeting on Saturday which saw leading thoroughbred breeder and prominent political leader from South Punjab Makhum Syed Ahmad Mahmud unanimously re-elected as its chairman.

Earlier the soft-spoken and unassuming Makhdum was elected steward on the 10- stewards panel with a massive majority vote and then was re-elected chairman by the stewards.

Newly-elected stewards Mohammad Kaleem Khan and Mahmood Khan hailed Makhdum’s “enlightened leadership” towards helping promote equine sports as he raised the prize-money to benefit horse-owners. He also improved club’s working conditions, its cleanliness as a safeguard to environmental pollution, they added.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2022