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Big-time races every weekend
MANY
horse farms in
New South Wales and
Queensland are still enforcing a lockdown or
cancellation of horse travels as the equine influenza (EI)
continues to hover Down Under.
And a
full-blown investigation is currently going on as to how
the EI escaped the very strict Australian quarantine and
it is being conducted by no less than the retired
Australian High Court Judge Ian Callinan.
The
judge seems to have his hands full nowadays as he went
through the statements of various people who handled the
very first horses that came in from Japan in the first
week of August. It had been suspected long before that
the EI originated from
Japan,
where the virus stopped the races in the whole country
for several weeks.
Although
the Japanese authorities and even the Japanese media
were very quiet on the spread of the said virus, the EI
that spread to the Australian horses were highly
publicized to the world.
Here are
some of the highlights of the ongoing investigation:
The
August 8 flight also arrived in
Sydney
without one of the horses expected at the livestock
transfer area because it had been off-loaded in
Melbourne. Customs officer Gianna Bucciarelli said that
when she proceeded toward the plane to process the
passengers, she asked an officer from the Australian
Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) if they were
both heading to the same plane. Bucciarelli recalled: “I
explained to [the officer] that there were five grooms
onboard who had not been cleared for Customs and
immigration. The AQIS officer responded that they
weren’t required to board that flight because it was a
domestic flight from Melbourne.”
A
veterinary officer in charge of the AQIS livestock
transfer facility, Dr. Yan Hee Song, revealed there were
health certificates for five horses at the airport, but
only four arrived. He explained: “I was told the plane
had landed in Melbourne and told the head office [in
Sydney] there were only four horses.” The four horses
that arrived in
Sydney
were Coolmore stallions Rock of Gibraltar and
Stravinsky, Arrowfield Stud stallion Snitzel and Darley
shuttler Grandera. Black Hawk (who stands at Eliza Park
in Victoria) remained in Melbourne.”
Coolmore
officials stated at the inquiry that they were forced to
build their own quarantine area in
Sydney
as the current one was not up to professional standards.
Darley did the same thing.”
THE
blue-ribbon event of the Philippine horseracing—the PCSO
35th Presidential Gold Cup—has attracted seven horses
that will dispute the total of P2.375 million at stake
on December 9.
Vying
for the P1.5-million top prize over the 2,050-meter
distance are: Batong Silyar, John Cordero, 55; Empire
King, Jeff Ladiana, 60; Tellmenolies, Pati Dilema, 54;
Mr. Victory, JB Hernandez, 55; Native Land, Jesse Guce,
57; Real Spicy, Jeff Zarate, 59; and Sound Of Silence,
Val Dilema, 54.
The
runner-up picks up P500,000 while the third and fourth
placer get P250,000 and P125,000, respectively.
The
breeders’ prize is P50,000.
IMPORTED
horse Drama Belle became the first horse to win the
first biggest prize money so far in the history of the
local horseracing as he bagged the 2007 Philracom Amb.
Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. Cup on Sunday at the San Lazaro
Leisure Park.
The
unknown galloper from Australia, owned by Joseph
Dyhengco and ridden by a replacement rider, Armando
Lumagui, picked up the whopping P2.4-million first prize
as she upset her favorite rivals. Jockey Lumagui
replaced the official rider, Dominador Borbe Jr., just
before the race started.
“Sinunod
ko lang ang bilin sa akin nu’ng trainer namin.
Nu’ng makita ko ’yung isang matinding kalaban namin sa
karerang ito na hindi na makagalaw sa tabihan ko habang
paremate na kami nasabi ko sa sarili ko na timbangan na
kami. Ito naman kasi ang aming plano sa simula,
diskarteng timbangan lang muna. Pero nu’ng makita ko nga
na malaki ang panalo namin dun sa diretsa, hindi na ako
nagdalawang-isip pa. Nagpapasalamat naman ako sa naging
oportunidad ko na makasakay sa kabayong ito,” said
the beaming jockey Lumagui, considered one of the
journeymen in the local racing circuit today.
Owner
Dyhengco was not there but he was represented by the
Dimacuha brothers—Ruben and Batangas City Mayor Ruben.
Winning trainer Tito Alvarez was almost speechless as he
received his trophy. Later on during the interview, he
revealed that he did not lose hope even with the two
recent consecutive loses his horse had recently. “Ayokong
maniwala kasi na ganun lang ang kakayahan nu’ng kabayo
ko. Dahil gusto ko pa ring makita ’yung kanyang
potential, isinali ko siya dito kahit na alam naming
dark horse siya talaga. Nagulat talaga kami sa
naging performance niya ngayong araw,” said
Alvarez, who also graced the podium twice in the recent
Marho Breeders’ Cup when the horses he trained for Nap
Chua—Arithmetic and Million Dollars—won the Juvenile
Fillies and the Sprint Championships, respectively.
All the
four top placers were dominated by the imported horses
as another longshot Ziraz of the SC Stockfarm placed
second and went home with a cool P900,000 while Glory
And Honour (the coupled entry of the winner Drama Belle)
and Wild Orchid checked in third and fourth for P500,000
and P200,000, respectively. The other finishers in this
2,000-meter race were Great Emma, Danseuse, Real Spicy
and Hussy.
Ever
Mine Now did not finished the race while Leave No Doubt
and La Tienne were scratched even before the race
started. Drama Belle stopped the clock at 2:07 with
quarters of 25’-24’-26’-24’-27’.
In the
four other featured races during the day, the winners
were: Indelible Ink in the P1-million Preyear End 2YO
Invitational Race; Treasured Ack in the Philracom
Preyear End 3YO Invitational Race; No Fear in the 2nd
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Cup; and Marque in
the 2nd Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup. |
