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CEBU
City—I found myself in this Queen City of the South
after attending the third edition of the Cebu Auto Show
that started yesterday (and would end on Sunday) in the
newly built Cebu International Convention Center in
Mandaue City.
This is
my second time here but this one is memorable, having
moved around more often and visiting those places that I
wasn’t able to see when I was here last year (yes, it
was also in May).
Chery
Cars, which brought five
Manila motoring
journalists to this city, has one of the biggest
showcase booths among the car manufacturers in the said
event, organized by Worldbex International Services of
Joseph Ang.
I was
with Ronald de los Reyes of Auto Review, Neil Palabrica
of Top Gear, Kris Lim of Chinese Commercial News and
Brent Co. Chery Cars officials who were with us were CEO
Ricky Lam, dealership network manager Tito Yupangco,
assistant sales manager Walter Inguito, admin manager
Aimee de los Santos, and assistant marketing managers
Raquel Ocampo and Allen Wu.
We are
billeted at the Marriott Hotel at the busy Ayala
Business Park at Mabolo in Cebu City, which is just a
stone’s throw away from another big-named mall and, we
tell you, Raymund Basubas, the manager director of Chery
Cars Cebu who was with us when we went to Chery Cars in
Wuhu province in Guandong, China, was an excellent host,
as he threshed out each minute detail of our stay there.
He did a good job in hosting and giving equal treatment
to our group and the local media, who were with us since
we hit this city on Wednesday.
Raymund’s Chery car dealership is on MC Briones Street
in Highway Mandaue City. He also served excellent food
and coffee in his Vienna Kaffee House at the nearby
Gorordo Avenue, also in Cebu City. It was already 12
midnight when we finished our dinner but the place was
still alive with people coming from different
directions.
This is
a booming city with various building constructions going
on left and right. One of the biggest and newest malls
in the city had been erected on a reclaimed area, and
traffic is smooth even on rush hours. Officials of Chery
Cars really made it a point to have us enjoy the sights,
aside from the Cebu Auto Show, in this lovely city. I
need to be back here soon!
More of
this in our Motoring page next week.…
****
Questions are still aplenty with the loss of Don Enrico
in the first leg of the ongoing Triple Crown
Championship Series.
One is
regarding the change of riders in midstream, which
happened to Don Enrico when his connections decided to
replace jockey John Alvin Guce with jockey Jonathan “JB”
Hernandez.
Before
the start of the first leg, it was seen as a timely move
since jockey JB is a veteran Triple Crown campaigner,
having won several legs and even a championship in
Silver Story. (Yes, he was with Success Story when it
doused cold water on the Triple Crown aspirations of
West Bound, the horse which he also rode to victory in
the first leg of that year’s series. He got suspended in
a regular race after that victory, forcing its
connections to get a replacement, who happened to be
Jeffril Zarate, who delivered in the second leg. Zarate
was chosen over the returning JB in the third and final
leg, leaving the latter picking up the horse of
Bienvenido Niles Jr., which topped the third and final
leg.)
The
enthusiasm of having a new rider onboard suddenly made a
big turnaround when jockey JB chose to fight it out on
Sunday with the fleet-footed Dońa Elena, which everybody
knew would serve as the rabbit for Indelible Ink.
The
connections of Indelible Ink did an excellent strategy
in luring Don Enrico and jockey JB to battle it out
right from the very start, making him an easy pick for
Indelible Ink in the mad dash for home. Although
Indelible Ink’s victory was a slim one over Shining
Fame, the real story was still jockey JB’s strategy.
Many
have said that jockey JB should have chosen to let it go
for Dońa Elena for the lead. But he fell into a trap
right after he chose to move ahead despite the bullying
tactics of Dońa Elena. Now, the question is: Was Don
Enrico’s decision to replace jockey Alvin Guce a good
one? Time will tell.
****
Buyers
of Australian horses would be more than happy to join
various auctions if they have the money because
Australian breeders, notably Coolmore Australia, are
adding world-class stallions among its roster this year.
Heading
the list of Coolmore superstars is the proven Encosta de
Lago, the soon-to-be-anointed Australian champion sire
who is expected to serve a number of champion broodmares
this Southern Hemisphere breeding season with a whopping
stud fee of $302,000 (the second-highest fee in
Australia today behind Arrowfield’s Redoute’s Choice).
The only
big-name star which will be missed is Fusaichi Pegasus.
But he will be represented by champion Haradasun (out of
Circles of Gold) who will start his first year at the
stud with a fee of $55,000.
A
relative new farm in town, Patinack Farm, also announced
its roster of four stallions that will include Group One
winner Casino Prince (Flying Spur-Lady Capel, by Last
Tycoon), a $140,000 sale yearling, which will stand his
debut season for $38,500; Argentine champion Husson (Hussonet-Villa
Elisa, by Roy) at $30,250; Group One winner Wonderful
World (Agnes World-Success Tale, by Success Express) for
$22,000; and Beautiful Crown (Chief’s Crown-Beautiful
Glass, by Pass the Glass) at $16,500.
The
other Coolmore stallions include Antonius Pius,
Danzig-Catchascatchcan, by Pursuit of Love, $8,800;
Aussie Rules, Danehill-Last Second, by Alzao, $ 16,500;
Choisir, Danehill Dancer-Great Selection, Lunchtime,
$33,000; Danehill Dancer, DanehillMira Adonde, by
Sharpen Up, $110,000; Dehere, Deputy Minister-Sister
Dot, by Secretariat, $44,000; Dylan Thomas,
Danehill-Lagrion, by Diesis, $44,000; Encosta de Lago,
Fairy King-Shoal Creek, by Star Way, $302,500; Excellent
Art, Pivotal-Obsessive, by Seeking the Gold, $24,750;
Fastnet Rock, Danehill-Piccadilly Circus, by Royal
Academy, $82,500; Haradasun, Fusaichi Pegasus-Circles Of
Gold, by Marscay, $55,000; Holy Roman Emperor,
Danehill-L’On Vite, by Secretariat, $44,000; Lion Heart,
Tale of the Cat-Satin Sunrise, by Mr. Leader, $16,500;
Oratorio, Danehill-Mahrah, by Vaguely Noble, $27,500;
Rock of Gibraltar, Danehill-Offshore Boom, by Be My
Guest, $82,500; Royal Academy, Nijinsky-Crimson Saint,
by Crimson Satan, $27,500; Scat Daddy, Johannesburg-Love
Style, by Mr. Prospector, $16,500; Spinning World,
Nureyev-Imperfect Circle, by Riverman, $11,000; and Tale
of the Cat, Storm Cat-Yarn, by Mr. Prospector, $33,000. |
