LAHORE, Aug 13: Two five-year-olds, bay Burn Heart and brown King Of Bhakkar will be vying as top contenders for the PTCL Jashn-i-Azadi Cup to be run over 1200m heralding the Independence Day celebrations at the Lahore Racecourse on Thursday.

The progeny of Burnish. H-out-of-Bailiff Heart, Burn Heart has recently won four races in five outings to merit claim. King Of Bhakkar, a worthy gelding from Dildar Jauhar out-of-Dam by Nice Jaz has also registered as many victories to make his claim sound equally well.

Running in their own peculiar styles, Burn Heart , a front runner while King Of Bhakkar, who has the tendency to come from behind, both have almost defeated all speedsters in own class and are to measure each other’s strides on the auspicious national day.

The handicap at eight stones four pounds gives an edge to King Of Bhakkar against Burn Heart’s nine stones four pounds.

Of the ten runners in the field barring last-minute withdrawals Better Case, Dare To Dream and Incognito should fight for the frame.

The PTCL Jashn-i-Azadi Cup is a class IV handicap race and the fifth in racing order. Three cup events feature a card of six events for the auspicious occasion.

The other cup events are the Independence Day Cup for class V and the Azadi Cup for class VII animals. All races are to be contested over the sprinting distance of 1200 metres.

Four contestants attract attention in the Independence Day Cup for class V division I. They are Euro Gold, Green Hill, Eastern Bird and Amazing. They should fight it out.

The Azadi Cup for class VII division I has 18 contenders. Of them four are prominent runners. They are: Minnie Me, Fly To The Stars, Copper Fields and Free My Heart. Minnie Me on past performance and Copper Fields on the recent form are outstanding performers.

The first race will be held at 3pm.

The following are the fields and our selections.

Azadi Plate Class VII Div III 1200m.

Nazakat 9-2 Sugar And Honey 9-0 Sound Master 9-0 Royal Treasure 9-0 Royal Bullet 9-0 Quite Arrivals 9-0 Khalid Chandiwala 8-10 Meri Kajil 8-9 Much Pleasure 8-6 Muslim Badger 8-0 and Two-B 7-12.

Win: Sugar And Honey. Place: Sound Master and Much Pleasure.

Azadi Plate Class VII Div II 1200m.

Great Boy 9-4 Khan Bahadur 8-12 Birju 8-12 Las Pal Mas 8-9 Qaswa Princess 8-9 Match Fix 8-7 The Reporter 8-7 Strings 8-3 Casper 8-0 and Brave And Noble 7-13.

Win: Great Boy. Place: Birju and Casper.

Azadi Cup Class VII Div I 1200m.

Copper Fields 9-4 Hunza 9-3 Silk Route 9-0 Speed Gun 9-0 Royal Class 9-0 Puma Star 8-12 Fly To The Stars 8-11 One More Round 8-9 Steel Legend (formerly White Line) 8-7 Hot Press 8-7 Royal Salute 8-7 Asif Love 8-6 Black House 8-5 Khush Naseeb 8-5 Extra Heat 8-3 Minnie Me 8-3 and Free My Heart 8-3.

Win: Minnie Me. Place: Free My Heart and Copper Fields.

Independence Day Cup Class V Div I 1200m.

Dhandhana 9-7 Royal Fantasy 9-0 Royal Jewellry 8-10 Flood Of Gold 8-3 Rukhsh 8-2 Euro Gold 8-2 Imagine Iff 8-2 Green Hill 8-0 Eastern Bird 8-0 and Amazing 7-10.

WIN: Euro Gold. PLACE: Green Hill and Eastern Bird.

PTCL Jashn-i-Azadi cup Class IV Div I & II 1200m.

Incognito 9-4 Burn heart 9-4 Rukhtas Again 9-0 King Of Bhakkar 8-4 Better Case 8-4 Zargar 8-0 Love moon 8-0 Green Street 8-0 Dare to Dream 7-12 Moment To Moment 7-12 Dancing Star 7-4 Flame 7-4 and Mahnoor 7-4.

WIN: King Of Bhakkar. PLACE: Dare To Dream and Burn heart.

Independence Day Plate Class V Div II 1200m.

Puma King 9-2 Weldon Shogun 9-2 Baker’s Inn 9-0 Polo Gambler 8-13 On On 8-13 Legality 8-13 Beena Roy Baby 8-12 Dawn 8-0 Show Counting 8-0 Royal Harban 7-8 Bach View 7-5 and Sun Princess 7-4.

WIN: Legality. PLACE: Weldon Shogun and On On.