Overcoming a not-so-favorable jump out of the gate, Freddie Santos’ Gomezian showed the public he was sent off as the top choice by winning the P1.5 million 2022 Philracom 3YO Sprint last Sunday at the San Lazaro Business and Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.
Starting the race in dead last, a no-no in a short trip such as 1000 meters, both horse and jockey (Oneal Cortez) remained calm and composed as Eazacky and Club Kensai tried to outmuscle each other for the win up front.
But the last 600-meters became a totally different story as Gomezian made his move and clawed his way in to contention with each stride.
Veteran trainer Danilo “Dabe” de la Cruz in a post-race interview that he was not that concerned with the start as that became Gomezian’s norm for some time now. “Hindi talaga namin sinadyang panoorin ‘yung bakbakan sa harapan, kungdi ganu’n na talaga siya. Parang bumubuwelo,” De la Cruz said.
Jockey Cortez when asked if he panicked when he was at the tail-end of the pack said, “Hindi naman kasi kilala ko na ng todo ‘yung kabayo ko na kapag hiningan ko na, hindi naman siya bumibitin. Kaya nu’ng paglampas ng medya-milya at hiningan ko na siya ay naka-pwesto na kami for the win.”
The Sakima out of Hot Yoga progeny bred by the Esguerra Farms stopped the clock at 59.4 seconds with clips of 11’-23-25 giving the connections the major chunk of the purse (P900 thousand).
Second place went to Enigma Uno worth P337,500 for the effort, Eazacky took home third place honors for P187,500, while Roaring Kanyon salvaged fourth and P75,000.