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IT was a
monumental upset indeed when the outstanding favorite Es
Twenty Six succumbed to early pressure and lost to a
longshot rival in the 2007 Philracom Lakambini Stakes on
Sunday at the San Lazaro Leisure Park (SLLP).
It was
the longshot Treasured Ack, whose participation in all
the three legs of the recent Triple Crown Championship
Series was not noticed due to his so-so performance, who
brought the house down when it came charging in the mad
dash for home and stomped her class among her rivals in
this event that was open to all best three-year-old
fillies in the land.
The
eventual winner sold only P17,628 from the total sales
of P1,092,510 that sent the exotic bettings in the two
winner-take-all and the Pick-6 into a one-winner affair.
Nobody
paid any attention to the gangling filly by Treasured
Cay out of Belle Of Ack who is locally bred by the owner
himself, Neil Velasco, who was not around to receive his
trophy during the awarding ceremony. But nevertheless,
the top prize of P720,000 was more than enough for
Velasco to feel so proud of his filly who had just
posted her fourth victory in eight outings.
Racing
aficionados were really engrossed with the very
impressive performance of Nery Sunga’s Es Twenty Six in
winning the third and final leg of the Triple Crown
Championship Series en route to bagging a total of P2.45
million from the series.
Those
figures were far from what Treasured Ack had garnered
from the series which amounted to a measly P150,000,
which was her prize for placing fourth in the second
leg. She was ninth among the 13 contenders in the first
leg and was only eighth and second to the last in the
third and final leg.
So
what’s the secret in a speed transformation from just a
mere finisher to an instant winner? Actually, it was no
secret but a known fact in racing that when you’re a
so-called “veteran” or always run against your peers in
various races you get that inherent advantage against
those who had seldom fight in tough races. In short,
that’s what we all called “when the going gets tough,
the tough gets going.”
Among
the seven fillies that faced off in the event on Sunday,
only two were considered “veteran” of tough races and
they were Treasured Ack and Es Twenty Six. All the other
five are coming off a vacation after being sidelined by
slight injuries or they just need rest and seasoning. In
short, they didn’t have the proper air in their lungs to
go the extra mile when the going gets tough.
Es
Twenty Six was not able to secure a good start right
from the gates. She had to run after the early
pacesetter Sexy Eyes while Treasured Ack was immediately
right beside her and never left her side from there. It
was only at the backstretch when Es Twenty Six took the
lead from Sexy Eyes, but the eventual winner was already
there straddling beside her in that moment.
After
enjoying the brief lead up to the far turn, Es Twenty
Six already looked tired and easy picking from there as
Treasured Ack simply whizzed from the outer rail to grab
the lead and flew to a four-length lead at the payoff
wire.
We were
not able to interview jockey Dominador Borbe Jr., who
partnered Es Twenty Six, but it was trainer Dave de la
Cruz who reasoned out that his horse didn’t really
perform to expectation. “Disappointed talaga kami sa
pagkatalo. Pero nangyayari naman ’yan sa karera. sa
tingin ko eh ayaw nu’ng natatapalan si kabayo. Ang tagal
na nasa tabihan niya si Treasured Ack at hindi
umaalis doon kaya nu’ng daanan siya eh wala na siyang
ilaban.”
Es
Twenty Six received the runner-up prize of P270,000
while third placer My Neneng, winner of the Hopeful
Stakes in the first leg but was nowhere to be found in
the next two legs, checked in third two lengths behind
and another two lengths behind was Condoleeza who
salvaged P60,000.
The
clock was stopped at
1:50 with quarters of 10’-23’-24’-24’-28’.
The other finishers include Defiant fifth, Jigsaw Star
sixth, and Sexy Eyes seventh and last.
****
ANOTHER
slew of stakes races will be seen in the next few weeks
as both racing clubs host several Philracom and
club-sponsored events.
This
Sunday, the Philippine Racing Club hosts the fourth leg
of its Santa Ana Park Championship Series and the
Philippine Sportswriters’ Association Cup.
When the
races go back at the SLLP in Carmona, Cavite, the
Philracom sponsored the first leg of the Imported/Local
Challenge Race which is open to all registered imported
and locally born horses three-year-olds and above that
have already participated in any races. A total of
P800,000 will be at stake with the winner receiving the
top prize of P480,000. The runner-up picks up P180,000
while the third and fourth placer get P100,000 and
P40,000, respectively.
****
ALL car
enthusiasts are invited in the staging of the Car Awards
Group Inc. Street Party on August 16 (Thursday) at the
Rockwell Power Plant.
Some of the top cars that dominated the Car of the Year
Awards last year will be shown while several
manufacturers’ booth will be set in a peripheral road at
the Rockwell Power Plant complete with playing rock band
in the evening. It’s free to the public, huh! |
