LAHORE, Dec 20: With a recent facile victory to her credit, three-year-old bay filly Honey Gal is all set to win the Eid Cup, featuring the seven-event card in the 17th Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday (Dec 23).
A class four division 11 and 111 combined handicap race to be gone over 1,200 metres, the cup event has seven runners barring last-minute withdrawals.
Owned by Javaid Khalid and Masood Pervaiz and trained by I. Nawab, Honey Gal, with a brilliant racing record of three wins and a second in her eight outings to date, stands out among her six rival stable mates. Chill, Re-born and Harry Can View are prominent in the fight for second place in this sixth race.
It is rather disappointing for the lovers of equine sports that the prestigious Jinnah Cup, a term race for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies to be gone over 1,400 metres, has now been declared void due to the paucity of runners in the event.
Provided there are no last-minute withdrawals, the main supporting event, the Sialkot Plate, a term race for two-year-old thoroughbred Pakistani colts and fillies, to be gone over 1,100 metres, has 10 runners. Among them Armaan and Dixie, both owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon are on chance to win the race. The other eight runners still have to show some merit in the third race of the day.
Miss Play, Lucky Cat and Mirana Choice are prominent runners among the nine left after the final scratching for the fifth race, the Rahim Yar Khan Plate, which is a class five, division one handicap race to be contested in the over 1,200 metres distance. They should be finishing in the same order too.
The fourth race, the Rahim Yar Khan Plate, class V division II, another over 1,200 metres event, consisting of a dozen runners, looks like an open affair as none of the contenders have shown a performance worth being tipped upon. Judging by their track work, however, Munsaf, Bashaeash Prince and Cheeta Aya look good for picking up the spoils, and in this very order.
Meanwhile, Run For Dollar, Little Smile and Shah Pari are attracting attention in the second race. Anyone of them can win it. Murad King, No Apologies and Sweet Lady are vying among the eight drawn for the first race in the over 1,100 metres distance. Sweet Lady, who ended up second in Wednesday’s midweek race, should have the better of the two.
Malang Aya, Isabella and So Romantic are prominent among the eight runners declared for the opener. They should finish in the same order.
The first race will be held at 12.00 noon.
Following are the fields and our selections:
Bhakkar Plate Class VI Div II & III 1,100M.
High Quality 9-0, Murad King 8-9, Happy Bear 8-9, Token Of Love 8-1, No Apologies 8-1, Sweet Lady 8-1, Happy Life 7-10, and Welcome Mayla 7-10.
Win: Sweet Lady. Place: Murad King and No Apologies.
Bhakkar Plate Class VI Div I 1,100M.
Arzoo 9-0, Run For Dollar 9-0, Striker 9-0, Babbu The Great 9-0, Little Smile 8-9,
Armida 8-7 and Shah Pari 8-4.
Win: Run For Dollar. Place: Little Smile and Shah Pari.
Bhakkar Plate Class VI Div III 1,100M.
Armaan 8-8, Trobis Own 8-8, High Jet 8-8, Magic Queen 8-5, Melody Queen 8-5, Dream Act 8-5, Dixie 8-5, My Delilah 8-5, Tripple Star 8-5 and Diamond Sky 8-5.
Win: Armaan. Place: Trobis Own and Dixie.
Rahim Yar Khan Plate
Class V Div II 1,200M.
Cheeta Aya 9-0, Sohna Shahbaz 9-0, Lubna 8-10, Bashaeash Prince 8-10, Amazing Boy 8-10, Munsaf 8-10, Look For My Luck 8-10, Deja Vau 8-8, Rana Gift 8-6, Darnaz 8-6, Pick Of The Day 8-2 and Hallow Handsome 7-12.
Win: Munsaf. Place: Cheeta Aya and Bashaesh Prince.
Rahim Yar Khan Plate
Class V Div I 1,200M
Miss Play 9-0, Rough Tough 8-8, Cross Ruff 8-8, Empire Maker 8-6, Shim Jim 8-6, Lucky Cat 8-2, Mirana Choice 8-4, Hitler 8-0 and Daisy Against All 7-12.
Win: Miss Play. Place: Mirana Choice and Lucky Cat.
Eid Cup Class IV Div II & III 1,200m
Honey Gal 9-0, Chill 8-10, Re-born 8-8, Don’t Follow 8-2, Harry Can View 7-12, Volcano 7-8 and Byron 7-6.
Win: Honey Gal. Place: Harry Can View and Chill.
Bhakkar Plate Class VI Div III 1,100M.
Malang Aya 9-0, Al Dar 8-8, Cash Deposite 8-8, Royal Palace 8-8, Chandar Mukhi 8-7, Miss Mano 8-6, Isabella 8-0 and So Romantic 8-0.
Win: Malang Aya. Place: So Romantic and Isabella.