LAHORE, Jan 15: Five-year-old bay filly, Rakhsh-e-Raqeeban, who registered a facile victory last Wednesday, will be on course to make it two-in-a-row when the midweek Lahore Gymkhana races get underway at the Racecourse on Wednesday.
Owned by Syed Parvaiz Hussain Shah, the unknown bay filly had won unchallenged in the class VII division one handicap race on June 9 and was promoted to class VI division III. She looks a cut above in class vis-à-vis her dozen rivals in the over 900 metres Bhalwal Plate.
Bird Fly, Have No Fear, Dimple and Mah-e-Noor, may fight for the less remunerative positions in this second race of the day.
In all, 73 runners have accepted to run in six races, barring last-minute withdrawals. A vast majority of them is of unknown pedigrees horses. They have been contributing much to flourish in the midweek gymkhana races. Their number is sprawling to the extent that many are in line waiting for their turn to run in the races.
Some of the unknowns have really accomplished wonders by their performances and even the big owners have started boosting their stables with such animals side by side with the Pakistani and imported thoroughbreds. The Lahore Race Club (LRC) besides being the racing organiser has joined the ranks of owners keeping a number of unknown pedigree horses, colts and fillies, winning a unique position among the racing world.
Four-year-old colt, Mirana Choice, who was unlucky not to cap a victory on his last outing, should make amends and win this time in the feature and sixth race of the day. He is from a good bloodline and has consistently been appearing on the board in his six outings. Among his 16 rivals, Shah Pari, Tallal The Great and Scooby Do are prominent by their recent performances. It is interesting to point out here that at least half of the acceptors in this race are such that their owners are under the influence of turf accountants. This makes it a good contesting race, when their interest clash in making maximum monetary gains out of it. This is a class V division II handicap race to be gone over the sprinting distance of 1,100m.
Sweet Lady, who really proved sweet for the punters winning a good race on Jan 9, will be on the trot to win by going all out in the supporting and fifth race of the card.
The four-year-old filly Sweet Lady, who is from Bedauine Invader out of Sweet For All, may find the mare Armida a big thorn in her way to victory. She was defeated by Armida’s under reverse handicap. The handicap figures are tilted towards Armida now and the distance too reduced to 900 metres. Wonder Smile, Great Rhythm, First Dream and Sun Ray should fight for places.
The fourth race has 15 acceptors, if there are no last-minute withdrawals. Of them four come in to reckoning. They are Sajju The Great, Geo (ex-Sohna Bhakkar), Mere Lal and Shehbaz Love. They should fight for the spoils.
The third race looks a match between Babbu The Great and Aaja Bulbul. The first named is a form animal while the filly, Aaja Bulbul is yet to fly past the winning post this season.
The fight for the place among the rest will be interesting because on recent form all stand equal on chance.
The opener as usual is a free for all among 18 runners. Geo Bhakkar, Sohna Murad Cash Deposite catch the eye on recent form. But it depends upon who is to ride and in what condition he is sent at the last moment.
A card of six events will be decided in the afternoon. Five will be contested in the over 900m distance and one in over 1,100m.
The first race will be held at 12.30pm.
The following is the field and our selections:
SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I 900M:
Silent Esscoon 9-0, Musken 9-0, Nasir Love 9-0, Sohail 8-10, Pure Power 8-10, Trigger Happy 8-10, Tarrar Choice 8-10 ,Desert Eagle 8-10, Sana 8-10, Black Narssissus 8-8, Golden pari 8-6, Miss Mano 8-6, Bagh-o-Bahar 8-6, Cash Deposite 8-6, Sohna murad 8-4 Noor-un-Nisa 8-2 and Sohna Noor 8-2.
Win: Geo Bhakkar.
Place: Sohna Murad and Cash Deposite.
BHALWAL PLATE CLASS VI DIV III 900M:
Big Choice 9-0, Bird Fly 8-9, Raksh-e-Raqeeban 8-8, Mah-e-Noor 8-8, Happy Bear 8-6, Leader’s Wing 8-6, Have No Fear 8-4, Dimple 8-0 ,Magic Dream 7-10, My Princes 7-13, Waqas Prince 7-10, Gold Dust 7-10 and Royal Palace 7-10.
Win: Raksh-e-Raqeeban.
Place: Have No Fear and Bird Fly.
BHALWAL PLATE CLASS VI DIV I 900M:
Jomteen 9-0, Alishba 9-0, Lubna 8-10, Look My Luck 8-10, Babbu The Great 8-5, Aaja Bulbul 8-4, Ferrari 8-2 and Pick Of The Day 8-2.
Win: Babbu The Great.
Place: Ferrari and Aaja Bulbul.
SARGODHA PLATE CLASS VII DIV I-B 900M:
Burrat 9-0, Sajju The Great 9-0 ,Kipsha Gulshan 9-0, Sohni Bulbul 9-0, Geo (ex- Sohna Bhakkar) 8-11,Mere Lal 8-10, Mera Bhakkar 8-10, Yasir Love 8-10, Lal Pari 8-6, Mosaic 8-4 Shehbaz Love 8-3, Pukkar 7-12, Kiss Of Love 7-10, Kashif Da Gulshan 7-10 and Gold Venture 7-10.
Win: Geo.
Place: Mere Lal and Sajju The Great.
BHALWAL PLATE CLASS VI DIV II 900M:
Sweet Lady 9-4, First Dream 9-0, Sun Ray 8-10, Armida 8-9, Arzoo 8-6, Arson Prince 8-2, Sun Shine 8-1, Regulation 8-1, Grey dancer 8-1, Great Rhythm 7-12, Wonderful Smile 7-10 and Bandgi 7-10.
Win: Sweet Lady.
Place: Wonderful Smile and Armida.
CHEECHA WATNI PLATE CLASS V
DIV II 1,100M:
Pawan Again 9-0, Athena 9-0, Safari 9-0, Dream prince 9-0, Freeze 9-0, Mirana Choice 8-11, Toyota 8-10, Rough Tough 8-10, Super Sonic 8-10, Scooby Do 8-7, Weldon 8-4, Shah Rani 8-2,
Darnaz 8-2 Hitler 8-2 Dream Act 8-2 Shah Pari 8-2 and tallal The Great 8-2.
Win: Mirana Choice.
Place: Tallal The Great and Scooby Do.