|
HEAVY
Triple Crown Series contender Don Enrico heads the six
top and tested three-year-olds entered in the 2008
Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) Diamond I
Stakes at the San Lazaro Leisure Park (SLLP) in Carmona,
Cavite.
The colt
owned by Lorreine Uy Wi is heavily favored for the top
prize of P300,000 put up by the sponsoring Philracom.
The other five contenders in this race that will be
disputed over the 1,600-meter distance are Euromax, Love
Story, Prime Zone, Prying Eyes and Shining Fame. The
runner-up picks up P112,500, while the third and fourth
placers will receive P62,500 and P25,000, respectively.
Indelible Ink is reportedly sidelined by his connections
after it was found out from a blood test that the colt
is “stressed out.” He is now at the spanking Esguerra
Stable in SLLP and is expected to be back in harness
just before the real war in May for the Triple Crown
Series starts.
And
talking about this month’s Philracom-sponsored races,
the 2008 Philracom Diamond II slated on April 13 at the
Santa Ana Park has 14 nominated entries so far.
Another
P500,000 is at stake for the top-four placers in this
event that is open to all top local and imported horses,
where the winner will be receiving another P300,000. The
nominated horses are led by Real Spicy, while the others
include Bumble Bee, Drama Belle, Fierce Fighter, great
Emma, La Tienne, Manhattan, Mercurio, Midnight King, Mr.
Victory, Regal Boom, Sweet Xarah, Yotedigo and Ziraz.
The
1,600-meter event also awards P112,500 to the runner-up
and P62,500 and P25,000 for the third and fourth
placers.
That
April 13 event is a must-see for all race fans because
we have reports that the Philracom and the host
Philippine Racing Club are giving out prize money and
trophies in all the other remaining races slated for the
day. This promises to be a sizzling whole-day racing at
the Santa Ana park which you should attend.
CURLIN,
which bagged the Dubai World Cup on Saturday, had
already come of age and is fast developing to be a super
horse of the world.
That
seven-and-a-half length victory over a very strong field
of 11 other runners was strong proof that the
four-year-old horse by Smart Strike out of a Deputy
Minister mare, Sheriff’s Deputy, is now the most feared
in the world today.
I’ve
followed the career of Curlin even before he entered the
US Triple Crown Series last year and I even predicted in
this column that he would be a great horse in the
offing. Trainer Steve Asmussen really molded him into a
great horse after his major victory in the Preakness
Stakes. After victories in the Jockey Club’s Gold Cup
and the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year, Sunday’s Dubai
World Cup was an easy picking despite the presence of a
very strong field.
Another
major victory this year will surely make him the
all-time North American earner. He now has $8.8 million,
which is barely a million-dollar plus away from the
leader Cigar ($9.9 million) and Skip Away ($9.6
million).
The top
rulers of
Dubai should be congratulated by the whole world for coming out
with such a magnificent seven-card, one-day racing
extravaganza that is called the Dubai World Cup. That
$6-million featured race is still considered the world’s
richest and every owner of the best horses in the world
always wanted to enter their prized gallopers there.
On
Saturday, 12 horses (yes, one was scratched and it was
Happy Boy) fought it out in the major event that was
sponsored by Emirates Airline. Curlin simply made
mincemeat of his opponents as jockey Roby Albarado
simply rode him out throughout the race.
By the
way, it was the Argentinian-bred horse Asiatic Boy,
owned by the al-Maktoums, which placed second followed
by Well Armed in third. The other finishers included AP
Arrow, Great Hunter, Lucky Find, Jalil, Gloria de
Campeao, Premium Tap, Sway Yed, Kocab and Vermillion in
that order.
Besides
Steve Asmussen and Roby Albarado, the other participants
who shared the limelight on Saturday’s big event were
trainer Rick Dutrow and jockey Edgar Prado, who came up
with two victories each, and trainer Michael de Kock of
South Africa.
De Kock
saddled the South African-based mare Sun Classique to
victory in the $5-million Dubai Sheema Classic, barely
beating the record-winning time in the distance by only
0.05 seconds. Sun Classique, ridden by South African
jockey Kevin Shea, won her third straight at Nad
al-Sheba for De Kock and owners Lionel Cohen and WV
Rippon. The daughter of Japan’s Fuji Kiseki bumped her
career earnings to more than $3.3 million with her ninth
victory overall in 15 starts. Sun Classique was a
Grade-1 winner last June in South Africa.
De Kock
earlier won in the afternoon the $2-million UAE Derby
with another Argentinian horse, Honour Devil. Another
South African trainer-jockey tandem of Herman Brown and
Anton Marcus won the $5-million Dubai Duty Free with Jay
Peg, which reset the record in the
one-and-one-eighth-mile race with a new time of 1:46.2
that eclipsed the former 1:46.48.
Trainer
Rick Dutrow and jockey Edgar Prado snatched two major
races—the $1-million Godolphin Mile on Diamond Stripes
and the $2-million Dubai Golden Shaheen on Benny The
Bull.
THE
keenly awaited Manila International Auto Show (MIAS),
which takes the theme “Imagination in Motion” this year,
will start this Thursday at the sprawling World Trade
Center in Pasay City.
The
four-day event will see the launching of 15 new car
models from different car manufacturers, among them the
all-new Mazda6, Chrysler Town & Country, BMW M3 Coupe,
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and the Jaguar XF. In
addition, new brands like Chana and FAW will also be
introduced to Philippine car enthusiasts.
This
year, MIAS 2008 debuts its first-ever Classic Car and
Custom Car Competition. Organized in cooperation with
Lightspeed Philippines, only the country’s best and most
recognized car tuners and restorers were selected to vie
for the country’s best. The first-ever European Mobile
Media Association Sound Competition will also be held.
World-renowned precision driver Russ Swift returns with
a bolder show behind the wheel of the all-new Subaru
Impreza WRX STI. Racing aficionados can get up close
and personal with the all-new Godzilla—the # 22
MOTUL-Pitwork 350Z JGTC—as well as a lineup of the
country’s fastest dragsters. |
