|
THE
Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom), the big backer
of the Triple Crown Championship Series, has already
released the final notice regarding the holding of the
first leg of the annual series for the best
three-year-olds in the land.
A total
of P3 million is at stake in the first leg of the
series, which will be held on May 18 at the San Lazaro
Leisure Park (SLLP) in Carmona, Cavite. The winner will
be going home with a whopping P1.8 million, while the
runner-up picks up P675,000, third P375,000, and fourth
P150,000. A breeder’s prize of P100,000 will also be
given as a bonus for the winning horse.
The
deadline for the nomination of entries is on April 29
with a fee of P15,000, while the declaration is on May 6
with a fee of P30,000. They shall be accepted at the
Philracom office in
Makati.
The drawing of post position will be held on May 14 at
the SLLP.
A
Hopeful Stakes will also be held for all three-year-olds
which will not participate in the main event. A total
prize of P1 million is being offered in this 1,600-meter
race, with the winner going home with the top prize of
P600,000. The runner-up picks up P225,000, while the
third and fourth placers will receive P125,000 and
P50,000, respectively. The breeder of the winning horse
gets a bonus of P30,000.
Expect
Don Enrico and his archrival Indelible Ink heading the
list of entries in the main event.
****
MAGIC
Million managing director David Chester relayed an
exciting news from Down Under regarding a half-brother
of a King Cugat yearling that was purchased two years
ago by a local owner-breeder which booked a place in the
Group-1 Golden Slipper after winning at Rosehill
racetrack in Sydney.
Sidereus,
the first colt runner for the lightly raced and
three-year-old placed Best Western mare Hootenanny, won
the Group-2 Pago Pago Two-year-old Stakes to become a
starter in the STC Golden Slipper Stakes, the world’s
richest two-year-old race.
His
half-brother by King Cugat was bought by owner-breeder
Eric Tagle during the June 2006 Magic Millions National
Sale, according to Chester, who will be in Manila early
next month to promote the coming June 2008 Magic
Millions National Sales which is considered the biggest
horse auction in the Northern Hemisphere.
Prepared
at Randwick by Anthony Cummings, Sidereus showed great
tenacity over the concluding stages to hold out a late
challenge from Over the Wicket after hitting the front
near the furlong pole.
It was
Cummings who bought Sidereus for $210,000 at last year’s
Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold
Coast from the draft of Gerry Harvey’s Baramul Stud. The
colt is the first runner for the lightly raced and
three-year-old placed Best Western mare Hootenanny, who,
in turn, is from a Sir Tristram three-quarter sister to
Kaapstad and the dams of stakes winners including
Bonanova, Fraternity, Telestoand Court of Jewels. Other
stakes winning stars of the family include Group-1
winning siblings Octagonal, Marquise, Diamond Lover and
Mouawad.
****
IF
there’s one off-track betting station, I would like to
suggest to you if you’re looking for a decent one to
stay for a one-whole day of racing in comfort and
excitement, then it’s at Ping-Ping Lechon & Restaurant
in La Loma, Manila.
If
you’re a true-blue racing aficionado, you should know
the place right now, because it has been shown on
television long before. And Maca and Bong Chua will
always be there to welcome you with a smile anytime of
the day.
The
place is one heck of a place to stay, because it has two
venues in that place in La Loma where you can sit back
and relax while enjoying the races. We chanced by the
place on Sunday and one of the venues was full of racing
fans. I was referring to the smaller one right beside
the OTB.
What
makes the place a hit to many racing fans are the
various amenities being offered by proprietors. You want
food before indulging on the beers or spirits? It has
plenty to offer, and they are all affordable, too.
Ping-Ping Lechon & Restaurant is very famous for its own
kind of lechon, and people from all walks of life come
back for more when they first tasted its lechon. It’s so
juicy and tasty, while the skin is crispy even while
it’s hot. It can even make your big party live and
exciting with its lechon baka that would cost you about
P20,000.
I love
its lapu-lapu escabeche a lot, while my youngest kid,
Migoy, crave for its shomai too often. Drop by in the
afternoon and its siopao and beef mami are so great.
Both
Maca and Bong are known to me personally for more than
11 years because these two great brothers helped us a
lot when we were just starting the Winners Circle
Production, the company that covered the live races in
both Santa Ana Park and San Lazaro Leisure. And I’ve
seen how its business grew by leaps and bounds as it
built its name through hard work and perseverance.
By the
way, its OTB not only serves the racing aficionados but
also lotto fans its because it has first secured a PCSO
lotto franchise long before the OTB was put in place.
****
ARGENTINA
is the next Southern Hemisphere assignment of Giant’s
Causeway, the 11-year-old stallion by Storm Cat out of
Mariah’s Storm, by Rahy.
This is
a recent report from the Ashford Stud near Versailles,
Kentucky, where Giant’s Causeway stands. The third on
this year’s general sires list is headed for La Mission
stallion station in Buenos Aires, where he will be
joining several champion sires, such as Johannesburg,
Thunder Gulch and Footstepsinthesand (who stands at the
Coolmore Stud in Ireland).
Giant’s
Causeway has sired 42 stakes winners, including
Footstepsinthesand. An English classic winner,
six-year-old Footstepsinthesand is out of the Rainbow
Quest mare Glatisant. Thunder Gulch, a 16-year-old son
of Gulch out of the Storm Bird mare Line of Thunder, has
sired 63 stakes winners, including 2001 Horse of the
Year Point Given.
Nine-year-old Johannesburg has sired 16 stakes winners.
His sire, Hennessy, shuttled last year to La Mission,
where he died of a heart attack.
Johannesburg is out of the Ogygian mare Myth. |
