THIRD favorite Stravinsky beat four other 2-year-olds to win the rich PCSO Special Maiden race with a lot to spare recently at the Sta. Ana Park in Naic, Cavite and established himself as one of the juveniles to watch in the racing season.
Ridden by veteran Jonathan Hernandez, Stravinsky swept past his rivals just 150 meters into the race and went on to hit the wire a clear victor in the 1200-meter event that offered P600,000 to the champion.
The chestnut bay colt, a progeny of Dream Romance out of Ultimate Goal, clocked a respectable time of 1 minute and 15 seconds with quarter times of 24, 23 and 27, finishing some seven lengths ahead of Street Sign (Apoy Asuncion) and 10 clear of third placer Kid Solis (C. Henson)
“It’s (the victory) was the product of good teamwork among the people in my stable,” said lawyer-businessman Narciso O. Morales, who has now produced three PCSO Maiden race winners since last year.
In the last racing season, Spectrum and Hot Dog delivered as they led a long line of winners that gave the Morales stable a runaway overall victory among horseowners in number of wins and money winnings.
Trained by Atoy Sordan and bred by Tony Tan, Jr., Stravinsky, running inside the rail, surged past Foolish Princess, Street Sign, Kid Solis and second pick Magic Wallet and slowly but steadily left his rivals behind.
By the time he reached the top of the stretch, Stravinsky had taken a two-length lead which ballooned to four, then five and finally seven despite getting limited whips from Hernandez.
Foolish Princess (Jeff Zarate) came home fourth and Magic Wallet (Mark Pilapil) checked in fifth and last.
Meanwhile, Morales kept pulling away in the number of wins and money winnings and looked headed to scoring a back-to-back overall victory among owners halfway through the racing season.
A report by the Philracom showed the Morales stable garnering 110 wins,136 runnerup, 122 third and 122 fourth-place finishes as of end-June, well ahead of second-running SC Stockfarm (41-26-14-15) and third-ranking Stony Road Horse farm (29-29-25-17).
Among the jockeys, Jesse Guce retained the lead with 101 wins, followed by Hernandez with 82 and Mark Alvarez with 59.
Low Profile emerged the leader among horses with P4,271,717 in winnings on five victories in a great run highlighted by an easy triumph in the PCSO Silver Cup in June.