LAHORE: Odds-on favourite colt Amanah lived up to its star billing, powering to an easy success in the Winter Cup run over 1000 metres during the 20th Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecoursehere onSunday.

Amanah took a flying start and led all the way, accelerating its speed in the home stretch to win by five lengths from outsider chestnut colt Roaring Lion with bay filly Sky Activethird while bay colt Professor took fourth sport.

Guided to victory by jockey Aftab Choudhry, the Syed Atif Ashfaq Shah-owned Amanah is trained by Mohammad Afza and registered its fourth win in six outings.

Three races were held over 1100 metres and as many over 1000 metres when a card of six events was gone through with race-goers braved icy cold winds on a Sunday afternoon programme conducted by the LRC senior administratorHafeez Akhtar Randhawa, a former chairman of the Jockey Club Of Pakistan (JCP).

Randhawa told Dawn he was focusing on improving the poor quality of LRC stables and would recommend that in future race club stables should be built on the pattern of international standards.`Stables are like prison cells and that`s a cruelty towards animals,` he said, praising the Defence Housing Authority Lahore for constructing stables in its polo club totally in line with theInternational standards.`I hope the LRC follows suit tofacilitate a good environment for the animals at their stables.Surely that would result in better performances in raceswhile uplifting in the standard of racing.