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Triple Crown’s second leg reset
THE
considered “Dean of the Philippine Horserace Calling,”
Tony Trinidad, died Thursday night and was cremated
Monday afternoon at the Holy Trinity Memorial Chapel in
Parañaque.
Señor
Tony, as I fondly call him, is like a father to me. It
was he who gave me important pointers in dealing with
the various people in the local horseracing industry.
Yes, he
is the father of Albert, a former horse owner who is the
first president of the Klub Don Juan de Manila, and
Mandy, also a horse owner who is the former president of
our sister company, Fortune Life. Albert used to tag
along with his dad and even served as his dad’s
assistant in calling the races.
Several
years back, a colleague, Vic Villafranca, called me up
and asked me to gather the best racing personalities who
could serve as an anchor of a television coverage of the
live races his friend from an advertising agency is
putting up. With me as the leading point man, I chose
Señor Tony, of course, together with Ben Francisco and
Boy Mendez.
The TV
show pushed through and our exchanges of ideas and his
imparting of good ideas and pointers went on for the
next three months or so until the government (through
the Department of National Defense) ordered a
cease-and-desist order for the TV station to stop the
coverage of the races (talk of curtailment of media
freedom).
He
visited me at the races during our coverage in the
Winners Circle Production and continued giving me his
fatherly advice, although he could hardly hear anymore
because of his hearing problems. I was able to attend
one of his birthday celebrations at the Casa Armas in
Ermita a few years back when Albert invited me to join
them. After our coverage of the live races at the SLLP
stopped, I no longer had any news about Señor Tony until
I was woken up Friday morning by our president, Benjie
Ramos, who broke the news of his death over the phone.
Señor
Tony was given a citation as the “Dean of Philippine
Horserace Callers” some two to three years back, and I
can attest that he really personifies such recognition.
He was one of the colorful racing personalities who gave
his time and effort to the development of horseracing in
the country.
I salute
you, Señor Tony! May you rest in peace!
****
ONE of
the victims of the recent typhoon Frank was the second
leg of the ongoing Triple Crown Championship Series,
which was canceled on Sunday.
The
stage had been set and all the participants were all
ready to go all-out when the typhoon hit Metro Manila,
thus the cancellation of all the races scheduled for the
day.
In my
meeting Monday with Philippine Racing Commission
chairman Jose Ferdinand II at the wake of his mom, Aling
Mely (Emiliana Rojas), who died on Sunday afternoon, he
said the second leg and also that of the Hopeful Stakes
will be rescheduled on a later date to be announced
soon. Because the third and final leg will also be
affected by the rescheduling of the second leg, chairman
Rojas said it would also be rescheduled, also to be
announced soon.
****
THIS
year’s ArtPetron 8, with the theme, “Alay sa Pistang
Pilipino” as a tribute to Philippine fiesta, promises to
be a big one with the participation of two national
artists as judges.
Napoleon
Abueva, acknowledged as the father of modern Philippine
sculpture, and Benedicto Cabrera (BenCab), who was
conferred the honor of National Artists for Painting in
2006, will be serving on the board of judges. Other
judges for the painting category include Felice Sta.
Maria, commissioner of the Unesco National Commission of
the Philippines; Roberto Feleo, well-loved professor at
the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts;
Raul Isidro, senior artist and print maker; Cecile
Guidote-Alvarez, executive director of the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts; and Dr. Joven
Cuanang, senior vice president for medical affairs and
medical director of St. Luke’s Medical Center.
ArtPetron 8 is a painting and photography contest open
to students 15 to 28 years old who are enrolled in a
regular college or university fine-arts course or in a
museum-based or private tutorial art program.
There
are two categories for painting: oil/acrylic and
watercolor/water-based media. Six grand prize winners
(three from each painting category) will receive P50,000
and an ArtPetron trophy made by National Artist Abueva.
Six runners-up (three from each painting category) will
receive P20,000 and an ArtPetron trophy. Application
forms are available at the president’s or fine arts
dean’s office in all schools and universities,
participating Petron service stations and bulk plants
nationwide, or at the ArtPetron Secretariat office (c/o
Studio 5 Designs, tel. 895-3971). A downloadable
application form is also available on the web site
www.artpetron.com.
****
NOW it can be told!
Australia’s famous gelded horse Phar Lap died of arsenic
poisoning, as had been suspected for more than 75 years.
The cause of death of the horse was finally revealed by
researchers Dr. Ivan Kempson of the University of South
Australia and Dermot Henry, manager of Natural Science
Collections at Museum Victoria.
Kempson
took six strands of hair from Phar Lap’s mane and
analyzed them at the Advanced Photon Source Synchrotron
in Chicago, finding that in the 40 hours before Phar
Lap’s death, the horse had ingested a massive dose of
arsenic. Phar Lap’s mounted hide is on display at the
Melbourne Museum, while his heart is kept at the
National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
It was
just a few days before when Phar Lap had won the richest
race in North America that time, Mexico’s Agua Caliente
Handicap (which is still being run up to these days),
when his death was announced in April of 1932 at the
Menlo Park in California. He won a total of 37 races out
of 51 career starts. |
