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Today is
the declaration deadline for the first leg of this
year’s Triple Crown Championship Series.
Late
last week seven tough and tested gallopers made it to
the nomination and they were Looraine Uy Wi’s Don Enrico,
Raymund Puyat’s Hieroglyphics, Hermie Esguerra’s
Indelible Ink and Queen Elena, Reginald Vergara’s
Sauvignon, Tony Tan’s Shining Fame, and Mario Tan’s
Unopposed.
May 18,
the date of the first leg at the San Lazaro Leisure
Park, is still a long way to go and all of them are
surely making adjustments after wrapping up their final
preps last week. Although Don Enrico and Indelible Ink
are still the odds-on favorites, many still believe that
this event is expected to be very exciting.
Philracom set aside a whopping P3 million in total
prizes, with the champion going home with the top prize
of P1.8 million. The runner-up will pick up P675,000,
while the third and fourth placers in this 1,600-meter
race will go home with P375,000 and P150,000,
respectively.
Meanwhile, the list of contenders in the P1-million
Hopeful Stakes is almost full, with 13 nominated and
they are: Sixto Esquivias IV’s Angel Dugo, Hermie
Esguerra’s Anonymous, Nap Chua’s Arithmetic, Bay
Coching’s Bing Bigotilyo, Sonny Arevalo’s Bohemian Dave,
Nonoy Niles’s Champion of Show, Ernesto Logarto Jr.’s
Don Alejandro, Eddie Dimacuha’s Love Story, Moises
Villasenor’s Luna Rossa, Ruben Dimacuha’s Makisig, Levi
Pastoral’s Princess Yana, Dr. Nic Cruz’s Prying Eyes,
and Bobby Yutadco’s Speed Almighty.
The
winner in this Hopeful Stakes will receive the top prize
of P600,000, while the runner-up will pick up P225,000,
third P125,000, and fourth P50,000.
****
BIG
BROWN, the winner of the 134th running of the Kentucky
Derby, is one helluva horse which is going to sweep the
Triple Crown Series.
This is
my fearless forecast after watching the Run For The
Roses on Sunday morning and I am certain that he will
end the 29-year drought in the rich history of the US
Triple Crown. Since 1978 (when Affirmed became the 11th
horse to sweep the series), there are 10 horses that
have won both the Kentucky Derby and the second leg
Preakness Stakes in Maryland, only to lose in the third
and final leg which is the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New
York.
Of
those, Real Quiet has been the closest to winning the
Triple Crown, losing the Belmont Stakes by a nose in
1998. The next year, Charismatic led the Belmont in the
final furlong in 1999 but broke his leg in the final
stretch and fell back to third.
The
first nine US Triple Crown champions include Sir Barton
in 1919, Gallant Fox in 1930, Omaha in 1935, War Admiral
in 1937, Whirlawaya in 1941, Count Fleet in 1943,
Assault in 1946, Secretariat in 1973, and Seattle Slew
in 1977.
There
are reports that almost all of those whom Big Brown
(whose name was taken from the famous United Parcel
Service) had met in the Derby will no longer be seeing
action in the Preakness Stakes in
Maryland
two weeks from now.
Fourth-placer Tale Of Ekati and 18th placer Big Truck
have been shipped back to their base in New York by trainer Barclay Tagg, who was quoted to have said that Tale Of Ekati
will be pointed toward the Belmont Stakes instead, while
Big Truck will be in for state-bred grass races.
Fifth-placer Recapturetheglory will be off on a
vacation, while sixth placer Colonel John is still
undetermined, according to trainer Eoin Harty. Cowboy
Cal (ninth) will go to Stonerside Farm for a break from
competition and Monba (20th) will return to Pletcher’s
stable in New York.
Churchill officials also said Smooth Air, the 11th
placer who was treated for an infection a week before
the
Derby,
will be given some time off by trainer Bennie Stutts Jr.
With
this, Big Brown is expected to meet a new bunch of
contenders at the Preakness and those being considered
are Behindatthebar, El Gato Malo, Kentucky Bear, Tres
Borrachos, Giant Moon, Stevil, Yankee Victor and Harlem
Rocker.
By the
way, did you know that Big Brown was bought for only
$60,000 at the 2006 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October
Yearling Sale by a Florida pinhooker named Eddie Woods,
who resold him the following year at the Keeneland April
Sale of two-year-olds in training for a whopping
$190,000?
“It was
exhilarating, unbelievable! I always thought he would
win it, but to actually see it happen, it was a totally
different ballgame,” said Woods, who thought that the
colt’s future was on the turf (grass). In fact, the son
of Boundary broke his maiden on grass by
11-and-one-fourth lengths at Saratoga last year. Bright,
alert and eager, Big Brown grew up to be a classic
winner and he has a shot to sweep the Triple Crown,
something that hasn’t been done since Affirmed
accomplished the feat in 1978.
Big
Brown has won all four of his career races, including
the Florida Derby (Grade-I) and an allowance event at
Gulfstream
Park.
Another
issue that came out recently about the Derby is from the
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (Peta), which
is seeking the suspension of Eight Belles’ jockey
Gabriel Saez after the filly had to be euthanized
following her second-place finish in the
Derby. “What we really want to know, did he feel anything
along the way? If he didn’t, then we can probably blame
the fact that they’re allowed to whip the horses
mercilessly,” Peta spokesman Kathy Guillermo said.
But
trainer Larry Jones denied that the horse was abused and
was quoted as saying: “I don’t know how in the heck they
can even come close to saying that. She has her ears up,
clearly galloping out.” |
