LAHORE, Feb 7: The nine-event card in the 23rd Lahore Winter Meeting features four cup races including the 1,000 Guineas of Pakistan, a term race for four-year-old fillies to go over 1,600 metres, as its centrepiece, at the Racecourse on Sunday.

Of the 10 fine-bred fillies, versatile Dixie, trained by Haji Fazal Hadi, leads the three leading fancies for this classic.

A progeny of Putra out-of-Noon’s Pride, Dixie, has the best credentials on the course to date with five straight wins, two last season and three during the on-going one, to her credit, and is still unbeaten.

The filly, owned by Malik Hamid Ali Noon, never looked in better shape than at present, regularly catching the eye on her track work after winning the prestigious Jinnah Cup on Dec 28.

The other two strong contenders, who may make this contest livelier, are Philogyny and Rags To Riches, both good in form and track work.

The field is studded with three raiders from Karachi — Claim To Fame owned by Pir Sadar-ud-Din, Black Velvet and Moomal owned by the Rajars. They will be making their debut on the course, turning this into the biggest-ever representation from the racing centre down country.

The 1,000 Guineas rightly called “Fillies’ Derby” carries a purse of Rs3,00,000 to the winner besides the trophy, Rs1,00,000 to the second and Rs50,000 to the third. The breeder is to receive a cash award of Rs15,000 for breeding a prized filly.

The race brings high prestige for the winner, trainer and jockey. The jockeys, who have won the race more than once are Bhoop Singh, Asif Malik, A. Hameed, Abdul Majeed II, Shahid Rehman, Aamir Pervez, Salahuddin II, Fletcher and Memrez.

But none of them have been able to equal the record set up by A. Razzaq, who won four times in his career as jockey riding Nerocracy, Fleurette, Nourat and Blooming Maid in 1970, 1974, 1989 and 1991, respectively.

This will be the seventh race in the racing order.

The supporting and eighth race, the Anarkali Cup, an event classified for three-year-old fillies in the over-1,200 metres distance has 11 runners.

Three fillies attract attention on their recent performances with none outstanding. They are Deedawar, Diamond Key and Heart Lake.

If the sire’s pedigree counts, Deedawar should win the event, but the three-year-olds are never a sure bet because they lose or gain form within a few days.

The colt Punjabi and mare Mythical are to fight for the top honours in the Nero Cup run over the 1,300 metres distance.

Punjabi, who is placed at 9-10 looks speedier than Mythical, placed far below at 8-6. The rest will be fighting for a place on the board.

Six-year-old horse Tipu Sultan is ideally placed in handicap in the over 1,600 metres Mountain Dew cup, a class I, II and III-handicap race.

Owned by Munir Ahmad Dar, Tipu Sultan is a great fighter and has already won two races in a row. He will be trailing on a hat-trick. Although pitched against two previous Derby winners, Gold Krik and Brave Act, he is no less a gold digger on form or any less brave than the two, who return to turf after a long absence.

Four-year-old colt Future Perfect, placed fourth on the last outing will be making a successful comeback in the third race. Owned by Sohrab Khan, he has to beat colt Life, owned by Mian Maahir Ahmad/Mahmood Khan and the horse Will He Wish, owned by Khawaja M. Arif, a former steward.

A lengthy card of nine events will be down for decision. The first race will be held at 12.00pm.

Following are the fields and our selections:

KALAR KAHAR PLATE CLASS VI DIV 1-A 1,200M:

Opera Winfield 9-0, Cleopatra 8-10 Roman, Glory 8-10, Whisper 8-10, Geo Chan 8-10, Alishiba 8-10, Unter 8-8 and Bad-e-Nasim 8-8.

Win: Whisper.

Place: Cleopatra and Alishba.

KALAR KAHAR PLATE CLASS VI DIV I-B 1,200M:

Queen Of Sabaowal 9-0, King Of Murad 9-0, Historical 9-0, Green Desert 9-0, Singhar 8-12, Never So Sure 8-10, Sultan 8-9, Justified 8-8, Royal Tigress 8-8, Khyber Star 8-8, Sikander 8-8, Naughty By Nature 8-6 and Super Sonic 8-2.

Win: Green Desert.

Place: Singhar and Naughty By Nature.

RAWAT PLATE CLASS V

DIV II-B 1,200M:

Miss Tabinda 9-0, Great H 8-10, Royal Passion 8-6, Muqaddar Ka Sikander 8-6,

Khyber Rifle 8-6, Will He Wish 8-6, Icon 8-6, Mahiya 8-6, Life 8-6, Fight To The Last 8-2, Janu 8-2, Fakhar-e-Sialkot 7-12 and Future Perfect 7-12.

Win: Future Perfect.

Place: Will He Wish and Life.

RAWAT PLATE CLASS V

DIV II-A 1,200M:

Zaafran 9-0, Frontier Prince 9-0, Shakalaka 9-0, Chinkara 9-0, Harry Can View 9-0, Pretty Girl 8-11, Tripple Star 8-10, Royal Deal 8-10, Miss Brave Heart 8-8 and Mikado 8-8.

Win: Zaafran.

Place: Pretty Girl and Frontier Prince.

RAWAT PLATE CLASS V

DIV I 1,200M:

Rustam 9-2, Miss Liza 9-0, Jeo Super 8-10, Qasid 8-6, Eve 8-5, High Jet 8-4, Blitz 7-12, The News 7-12, Sun City 7-10 and Magic Queen 7-8.

Win: Rustom.

Place: Geo Super and High Jet.

NERO CUP CLASS I, II and III 1,300M:

Punjabi 9-10, Sher-e-Gujrat 9-0, Tuba First 9-0, Mythical 8-6, Apex 8-0, Charismatic 7-10, Pak Edition 7-8, Bright Star 7-6 and Dubai Fan 7-4.

Win: Punjabi.

Place: Tuba First and Mythical.

1,000 GUINEAS OF PAKISTAN, A TERM RACE FOR FOUR-YEAR-OLD FILLIES, 1,600M:

Dixie 8-12, Rags To Riches 8-12, Princess Ginza 8-12, Soviet Song 8-12, Claim To Fame 8-12, Pick Of The Day 8-12, Philogyny 8-12, Blossom 8-12, Black velvet 8-12 and Moomal 8-12.

Win: Dixie.

Place: Rags To Riches and Philogyny.

ANARKALI CUP, A TERM RACE FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLIES, 1,200M:

Deedawar 9-0, Bluenchine 9-0, Notia 8-7, Zarquwa 8-0, Diamong Key 8-0, Daud Princess 8-0, Rainbow View 8-0, Ocean Song 8-0, Heart Lake 8-0, Pretty Poly 8-0 and Warrior Princess 8-0.

Win: Deedawar.

Place: Heart Lake and Diamond Key.

MOUNTAIN DEW CUP CLASS I, II and III 1,600M:

Gold Krik 9-2, Kiss Of Luck 8-10, Brave Act 8-4, Tipu Sultan 8-0, Zanjeer 8-0 and Valenday 7-10.

Win: Tipu Sultan.

Place: Gold Krik and Brave Act 8-4.