A HORSE possessing the combined superpowers of a frontrunner and a closer emerged the victor of the prestigious Philippine Charity Presidential Gold Cup last Dec. 4 at San Lazaro Leisure Park.
Ruben Dimacuha’s Low Profile bided his time at the back of a 13-horse field while Skyway, longshot winner of last year’s PCSO Silver Cup held at Metroturf, led for most of the 2,000-meter race and looked likely to win.
But Low Profile, guided by regular rider Mark Alvarez, rallied at the far turn. The tandem steadily gained on a waning Skyway, with Low Profile finally passing the plucky gray mare a mere 50 meters from the wire to win by a length and a half.
Skyway came in second, Kanlaon third, and Court of Honor fourth.
Low Profile’s sensational victory is a revenge of sorts for Skyway’s beating him in the 2015 PCSO Silver Cup, which Skyway won as the longest shot of all, coming from off the pace.
What makes Low Profile’s victory all the more impressive is that he often does better as a frontrunner. In 2015, he won the PCSO Anniversary Mile (Nov. 29) and 2,000-meter Philippine Racing Commission Amb. Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. Cup (Nov. 8), both at Santa Ana Park, by running in wire-to-wire fashion. Racing off the pace in third to Hagdang Bato and Skyway in the 2015 Silver Cup didn’t give Low Profile enough room to rally, though he managed second place in that race.
Congratulations to the PCSO Racing Committee headed by its chairman Conrado C. Zabella and coordinated by Dr. Orlando Malaca with the help of other hardworking members for staging another interesting Gold Cup. We look forward to PCSO’s 2017 racing calendar!
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“I’m looking forward to something new.”
Jockey Antonio “Oyet” B. Alcasid Jr. revealed this much in a recent conversation, though at the moment he’s mum about the details.
Alcasid, who has been riding professionally since 1988, is eager to transition from being a jockey to the next phase in his career, a move taken by jockeys usually sometime in their 50s if not earlier.
Over the decades, he’s earned quite a few accolades and has ridden for the most prominent stables in the country, among them those owned by Jose “Bebo” Quiros Jr., Andrew A. Sanchez, CJ Yulo and Sons, C & H Enterprises, Herminia Mamon, Aristeo G. Puyat, Rolando M. Rojas, Herminio S. Esguerra, Nathaniel G. Velasco, and others.
Along the way, he has gained work experience and honed skillsets as a stable manager and racehorse trainer, and as a director of the New Philippine Jockeys Association. As headmaster of the Philippine Jockeys Academy, he coaches the young apprentices aspiring to be the next JB Hernandez, Patty Dilema, and, yes, Oyet Alcasid.
Many jockeys go on to become trainers and stable managers; among the icons that come to mind are Pablo Guce, Juanito Macaraig, and Renato Hipolito. Joselito Zabat is now a racing steward. Eduardo “Boboc” Domingo Jr. became a successful commentator and analyst on the live racing coverage, his debonair style bringing a level of class to the profession that now is sorely absent.
What is Oyet going to do next? Trainer, teacher, steward, judge? The next few weeks will bring us the answer. In the meantime, his fans should savor his coming rides, because they might herald his upcoming retirement from active riding.
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Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Facebook: Gogirl Racing and Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @gogirlracing and @jennyortuoste, and Instagram: @jensdecember.