LAHORE, July 31: Three-year-old filly Sapna with her current form looks hot to win the feature event of day/night Lahore Gymkhana races, the Shahdara Plate Class-V Division-II, at the Racecourse on Wednesday.

The Lahore Race Club (LRC) had stopped midweek races after June 6, although the step cost them dearly, on demand of turf-accountants who termed them uncompetitive due to decreasing number of entries.

To strengthen club’s financial position, the stewards had announced to hold races on Wednesday after getting green signal from LRC's finance expert and senior steward Sheikh Sajjad Hassan on Sunday.

It is yet to be made clear if the midweek races will be held regularly from now onward.

A card of five events has been drawn for the day.

Of the seven contenders for the feature event, besides Sapna, Rana Choice and Shah Pari are in good form.

Three-year-old colt The News, owned jointly by Munir Dar and Abdul Sattar Khan, is said to be making consistent improvement in morning exercises and reckoned as a great threat to all. This will be the fifth and last race of the day.

Pretty Princess, Princess Afaq and First Dream are the pick of ten acceptors for the fourth and supporting event, a class-V division-I handicap race.

Pretty Princess is the fastest of the three and should make amends for her last defeat.

Ahsan The Great, Stride To Moment, Cheeku Khan and Yard Arm are the pick of eleven runners drawn for the third race.

Ahsan The Great and Yard Arm are speedy while Stride To Moment is a slow starter and Cheek Khan is an unreliable runner.

Filly Tosca failed to put up impressive performance in her last meeting but this time reduction in race distance by 200 metres gives her an edge over her less experienced rivals in the second race.

The opener is meant for unregistered ponies and has the highest number of runners i.e. 13. Half a dozen of them are making their debut.

The better on form and performance are Leader's Wing, Usman Prince and King Cobra. The last two named are not perfectly trained and tricky at the start, which leaves Leader's Wing ahead.

With the exception of the feature event, which is to be contested over 900 metres, the remaining four will be held over 800 metres.

Race-goers are missing leading owner, Khawaja M. Arif and a big betting-man-cum-owner, Mahmood Khan, who are not attending races these days. As a result punters are often in a fix whom to follow while laying bets on horses.

The first race will be held at 5.30pm.

Following is the field and our selection:

KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-IV 800M:

Shalimar 9-0, Ahsan Love 9-0, Dillagi 9-0, Nigar 8-10, Kundan 8-10, Three In One 8-10, Sona 8-10, Chander Mukhi 8-10, Daewoo 8-10, Leader's Wing 8-0, Usman Prince 8-0, Sigapore 7-9, King Cobra 7-4.

Win: Leader's Wing.

Place: King Cobra and Usman Prince.

KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-III 800M:

Hermatic 9-0, Madam Lorina 9-0, Tosca 8-6, Bird Fly 8-4, Black King 8-4, Titan 7-12, Sheru Khan 7-10, Simoom 7-8, Shah Rani 7-8, Mahima 7-4, Lucky Star 7-0.

Win: Tosca.

Place: Shah Rani and Bird Fly.

KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-II 800M:

Ahsan The Great 9-0, Tallal The Great 9-0, Stride To Moment 8-12, Armida 8-8, Sher Khan 8-2, Total Price 8-2, Dam Dama Dam 8-0, Yard Arm 8-0, Cheeku Khan 7-10, Dashing Paradise 7-10, Lucky Coin 7-10.

Win: Ahsan The Great.

Place: Stride To Moment and Yard Arm.

KALA SHAH KAKU PLATE

CLASS-VII DIV-I 800M:

Sundri 9-0, Great Rythym 8-10, Big Choice 8-10, Pretty Prince 8-6, Mama Mia 8-4, Blue Fire 8-0, Royal Deal 7-12, Princess Afaq 7-10, First Dream 7-4, Blu's Wendy 7-4.

Win: Pretty Princess.

Place: Princess Afaq and First Dream.

SHAHDARA PLATE CLASS-V

DIV-II 900M:

Stage Gift 9-0, Big Power 7-12, The News 7-12, Sapna 7-12, Rana Choice 7-8, Jewna 7-4, Shah Pari.

Win: Sapna.

Place: Rana Choice and Shah Pari.