Female trio vie for honours at Lahore races

LAHORE, June 14: Three of the top sprinters, all females, will be lining up to win honours in the feature event, the Shah Kot Plate, class IV to be gone over 1,200 metres during the day/night Lahore Summer Meeting at the Racecourse on Sunday evening.

They are Princess Of Gujrat, Miss Liza and Chill. Four-year-old bay filly Princess Of Gujrat, a progeny of Groom Dancer, in an extra-ordinary performance in the 1,400 metres event last October had defeated Headingly, a top colt. Later, she raced unplaced in the 1,000 Guineas Of Pakistan over the sprinting distance of 1,600 metres in February this year.

She has been sidelined since then but will be competing on Sunday.

Among her opponents the chestnut filly Miss Liza finished fifth on May 25. The chestnut mare Chill finished off the frame on May 18. Only six are to compete in the event.

The main contest in the race, a show piece for sprinting champions should be between these three — Princess Of Gujrat, Miss Liza and Chill — the first one on classification, the second on handicap and the third on speed. Miss Liza’s previous outing was not up to the mark thanks to her trainer Haji Fazal Hadi’s unreliability in showing up when needed. This will be the sixth and last race of the card.

The fifth and supporting event, the Ravi Plate, class five, division one and two combined, has seven runners. Of them Chinkara and Alishba are the form animals. War Admiral, Perfect Promise and Noor have come down in handicap but they have not shown any spark of the classification which they belong to. Perhaps they have been kept so to land a gamble at a proper time. Directly or indirectly they are in the control of bookmakers.

Dillagi and Qasid are the only two contestants who merit consideration in the fourth race. They should fight for the spoils with the first one having the advantage of speed.

Magic Queen, Amazing Boy and Brave Heart are the pick of the field for the third race, the Lasbela Plate, class VI-B. Magic Queen ran a very good third on her last time out and should make amends this time and win the race.

The four-year-old colt Warid had to his credit one victory and should be going all out to make it a two-in-a-row. Love Minister and Dream Act may be the constant thorns on his side in the way to victory.

The opener has a big field of 14 runners if there are no last-minute withdrawals. Dam Dama Dam, Chocolate Boy and Romanella are on chance and should fight for picking up the spoils in this race.

A card of six events will be decided with four races to go over the 800 metres distance, one over 1,100 metres and one 1,200 metres. The first race will be held at 5.30pm.

The following is the field and our selections:

LASBELA PLATE CLASS VI

DIV III & IV 800M:

Great Glamour 9-0, Dam Dama Dam 8-10, First Dream 8-8, Mah-e-Noor 8-6, Rana Choice 8-2, Chocolate Boy 8-0, Weldon Shogun 8-0, Geo News 7-10, Black King 7-10, Romanella 7-10, Yard Arm 7-10, Hikmat 7-10, Boogy Woogy 7-8, Dogar Gift 7-8.

Win: Dam Dama Dam.

Place: Romanella and Chocolate Boy.

LASBELA PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II 800M:

Love Minister 9-0, Dream Act 9-0, So Romantic 9-0, Rough Tough 8-10, Dam Her Dam 8-6, Remember You 8-6, Fit Fat 8-6, Free Hit 8-6, Al Ain 8-2, Warid 8-2, Jang Ju 8-2, Deam Memories 8-1, Stride To Moment 8-0.

Win: Warid.

Place: Love Minister and Dream Act.

LASBELA PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-B 800M:

Brave Heart 9-0, Love Story 8-10, Golden Addition 8-10, Chocolate Sunday 8-10, Amazing Boy 8-10, Melody Queen 8-10, Last Option 8-8, Magic Queen 8-8, Happy Dancer 8-6, Cheeta Aya 8-2, Billoo The Great 8-2.

Win: Magic Queen.

Place: Brave Heart and Amazing Boy.

LASBELA PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-A 800M:

Dillagi 9-0, Diamond Sky 9-0, Noor-un-Nisa 9-0, Big Bird 8-12, Volcano 8-8, Secret Memories 8-8, High Jet 8-8, Pakeeza 8-8, Qasid 8-8.

Win: Dillagi.

Place: Volcano and Qasid.

RAVI PLATE CLASS V

DIV I & II 1,100M:

War Admiral 9-0, Noor 8-10, Run And Win 8-6, Perfect Promise 8-2, Chinkara 8-0, Alishba 7-10, Blue Fire 7-4.

Win: Chinkara.

Place: Alishba and Noor.