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YOU may
not know it yet but the most expensive stallion that was
bought by a local investor had been bought last November
in Maryland.
The
stallion is named Jazz Club, a 13-year-old bay horse by
Dixieland Band out of Hidden Garden, by Mr. Prospector.
A multigraded stakes winner of $417,679, he is described
as one of Northern Dancer’s leading sons at stud and now
a budding sire of sires. From the immediate family of
the former Horse of the Year Mineshaft, his half-sister
Hidden Storm reportedly produced Fusaichi Samurai (by
Fusaichi Pegasus) who sold for a then world-record $4.5
million as a two-year-old. She was formerly owned by
Lane’s End Farm and Maryland Stallion Station.
Jazz
Club started his racing career at two in England, and
won a weight-for-age race at the
Haydock Park. He was
shipped to the United States at three and won two
allowance races—one in Keeneland and one in Delaware
Park. Among his victories at four were the Ben Ali
Stakes (Gr-III), the Crème Fraiche handicap (Gr-III),
RRM Carpenter Jr. Memorial Stakes, the Alysheba Stakes
and an allowance race at Gulfstream Park.
Reports
circulating around have it that the stallion was not
bought from the auction house but from the said stallion
station nearby through a negotiated sale. We have added
reports that said the stallion was bought for $250,000
or more than a whopping P10 million. And it was paid in
cold cash, we were told!
Jazz
Club is expected to be the foundation stallion in the
new rapidly built farm that was owned by a big political
figure in Batangas, who has been building his own equine
empire through high-stock and high-price purchases in
Australia and the US since middle of last year. This is
good news to the local horseracing industry as new and
big investors are coming in.
REAL
SPICY is fast making up for the lost glory last year as
he grabbed another Philracom-sponsored event—the 2008
Philracom Amethyst I—on Sunday.
Carrying
the top weight of 60, the six-year-old chestnut horse by
Real Quiet out of Spicy Tale picked up the top prize of
P300,000 in this 1,600-meter race. Chariot of Fire
checked in second for P112,500 while Kayang Kayang
placed third for P62,500.
FORMULA
ONE racing fanatics are in for another yearlong thrill
and excitement as the Formula One (F1) World
Championship Series blasts off next month with a total
of 18 stops worldwide.
There
will be four stops in
Asia and the fans
from this part of the continent will be in for bigger
surprises this year.
Malaysia
gets to host the 2008 edition of the annual car racefest
on March 23 at Sepang International Circuit, which
serves as the second leg of the series. Singapore, which
has been given the franchise to host a leg only this
year, is scheduled at Round 15 on September 28, while
China bags Round 16 on October 12 in Shanghai and Japan
hosts Round 17 on October 19 at Fuji.
Singapore
will host the first night racing at its home turf this
year since the telecast of the event is being beamed to
Europe on a live basis. In order to do this, a lighting
expert and his company was designated to make the whole
5-km racing track on the streets of Singapore as if it
is daylight. With an illumination of around 3,000 lux,
the lighting will be four times brighter than the lights
at sports stadiums. During the event, 108,423 meters of
power cables, 240 steel pylons and around 1,600 light
projectors with a total power requirement of 3,180,000
watts will be used.
This is
also the same condition that the Malaysian organizers
has to do next year after it was given another five-year
contract by F1 big boss Bernie Eccelstone middle of last
year. Since this will be the 10th year that the
Malaysians will be hosting the annual event, it was only
proper that they hold the biggest bash in its home turf.
That’s why a number of top Malaysian tourism and
car-racing officials arrived last week as part of their
Asian roadshow to promote the 2008 Petronas Malaysian
Grand Prix.
In fact,
two distinct night parties were held—one at the Embassy
Super Club at the Fort and one at the Silvercity in
Quezon City—to drumbeat the event. Present were Dato
Mirza Taiyab, the director general of Tourism Malaysia,
and Dato Azmi Murad, the general manager of Sepang
International Circuit, and other officials of the
Malaysian Airlines, the official carrier of the event.
They said they are targeting a record attendance of
125,000 at the site as the Malaysians make it a weeklong
celebration.
Nobody
wanted to say how much the package would cost as the
local travel managers are still busy haggling with the
numbers. But by simply looking at the corporate magazine
they handed out during the party, one could easily lose
an arm and a leg in getting prized locations on the
racetrack during the event.
There’s
this Paddock Club, which is definitely the top choice.
Located at the upper entrance of the pit building, it
offers fans of a spectacular view of the scorching F1
race under the comfort of air-conditioned and
well-furnished lounges. Remember,
Malaysia is
burning hot during this time of the year. The cost of
entering here on the day of the big event is Rm14,400
(that’s P181,440 on a P12.60 per P1 exchange rate) per
person. There’s a discount when you choose a two-day
visit at Rm15,580 (P196,308) or a three-day visit at
Rm16,340 (P205,884).
There
are seven Corporate Premier Suites available at
Rm350,000 (or a whopping P4.14 million) per suite where
you can accommodate 40 clients on two-day pass admission
coupled with 10 complimentary parking, 40 limited
edition caps and collared T-shirts, another 20
grandstand tickets which is directly in front of the
suite, a spectacular view of the start and finish, fully
air-conditioned, unlimited food and beverages and even
free pair of earplugs.
There
are other less luxurious suites such as two Corporate
Executive Suites (Rm300,000 each), three Corporate
Silver Suite (Rm250,000 each), three Corporate Bronze
Suite Rm200,000 each), seven Corporate Premier Platform
at Rm57,000 each, four Corporate Executive Platform at
Rm54,000 each and many others. For those who can’t
afford them, there are various places there where you
can see the whole show—the upper tier mall area that
goes for as high as Rm1,950 (P24,570) to as low as
Rm1,000 (P12,600) or you can be as far as the Hillstand
area (the farthest) at Rm100 (or P1,200).
Whewww…that’s
the cost of just entering the racetrack, huh! If you are
coming from Manila, you have to contend with the cost of
the airfare together with your whole-day meals and hotel
accommodation as well. You have the money, go and watch
it on March 23. That’s the closest venue (aside from
Singapore
which is just on its border) to see an F1 if you are
really a die-hard fanatic. And it’s the cheapest you can
go to, I tell you! |
