Manila Jockey Club Inc., the premier horse racing club in the country and one of Asia’s oldest, successfully hosted the 46th Presidential Gold Cup organized by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office last Dec. 9, at the world-class San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite, with Sepfourteen winning it all.
Sepfourteen, owned by Oliver “Jojo” Velasquez of SC Stockfarm Inc., dominated the grueling 2,000-meter race, claiming the grand prize of over P3 million.
The champion colt was skillfully ridden by jockey John Alvin Guce and trained by Tomasito “Chito” Santos. The win also gave the stable its first PCSO Gold Cup title. Bagging the second to fourth places are: Pangalusian Island, Electric Truth and Radioactive, respectively.
Manny Viray received the custom-made PCSO Presidential Gold Cup trophy on behalf of Velasquez. Present during the awarding were PCSO Vice Chairperson and General Manager, Ret. Gen. Alexander F. Balutan; Philippine Racing Commission Chairman, Andrew A. Sanchez; MJC President and CEO, Atty. Alfonso G. Reyno III; and other officials of the organization.
“The Manila Jockey Club thanks the sponsors of this afternoon’s races led by the PCSO, Philracom and our other partners who made this event most successful. This win will surely go down in history as one of the more memorable wins in the Presidential Gold Cup,” said Atty. Reyno.
PCSO awarded the proceeds of the race to the Rotary Club of Carmona in support of their projects.
Other major races of the day and their winners include: Fundador Cup Division I won by Baby Galore; Fundador Cup Division II won by Navy Cut; Hon. Mayor Ramon Preza Cup won by Boxmeer; and EEG Development Corp. Cup won by Señor Lucas.
Present during the event were foreign dignitaries and special guests which include His Excellency Koji Haneda, the Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of the Philippines; Mr. M. S. Patiyal, representative from the Indian Embassy; Mr. Satish Sethi, Country Manager of Emirates Airlines Philippines; and other dignitaries from the diplomatic community, government, and business.