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Friday, March 29, 2024

Space needle soars in Philracom 3YO stakes

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STONY Road Horse Farm’s Space Needle scored an upset over seven others to win the Philippine Racing Commission 3YO Fillies and Colts stakes last Sunday (Mar. 20) at Metroturf Racecourse.

Space Needle, sent off as the far fourth favorite, was ably guided by jockey Jeffril T. Zarate to a one-length win over second placer Guatemala.

Total time for 1,400 meters: 1:24.8 (12.8-22.4-23-26.6). Johnny Be Good 3rd, Sippin Beauty 4th. Zarate was fined P1,000 for grandstanding under PR (Philippine racing rule) 76-L.   

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Philracom’s next stakes race, for 4YO and older over a 1,500-meter distance, is on Sunday (Mar. 27) at San Lazaro Leisure Park. The bolahan (drawing of post positions) for this race is today.

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Philracom also reminds racing fans that Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (Mar. 24 and 25) are no-race days.

Likewise, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, another government agency that supports horseracing, will not hold Lotto draws nor sell tickets during those two days.

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Philracom recently amended the rule on the retirement age of horse in an effort to address the issue of the declining racehorse population

The Commission resolved last March 2 to amend Resolution No. 15 of 2014, which extends the retirement age of local racehorses from 12 to 14 years, by addition of the following conditions: that such horses “can run only one official race…every 30 days,” and that the rule “shall also apply even to those horses that had been retired at the age of 12 years.”

Horses that have reached their 14th year as reckoned from their date of foaling shall be retired on January 1 of the succeeding year.

“This amended rule that extends the retirement age allows older horses to race safely,” said Philracom Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, “while at the same time allowing for the augmentation of the pool of active racehorses.”

While there are some 2,000 or so registered horses each year, only about two-thirds are available to race at any given time, with the rest temporarily sidelined and others no longer running.

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My sincere thanks to the National Book Development Board for awarding me a writing grant that will support my research into the culture and communication of Philippine horseracing.

The grant is for the purpose of converting my PhD dissertation into a publishable manuscript.

 One of the interesting aspects of my project is my compilation of a salitang karera lexicon. The more words I add, the more words I remember, or that others submit for inclusion!

It seems a never-ending task, but one that I am excited to perform, along with writing context-specific defintions for the salita. I don’t rely on the English equivalent, but create my own that situate the meanings in this particular environment.

Here are a few examples: “Kaladkád. In betting, to pair one horse in a race to all entries in the next race. Kalahók. A participant or entry; the entries or starters in a field; the horses competing in a race. Kalmadúra. In horses, dandruff or dead skin cells.”

While these words have meanings in mainstream culture, they also have meanings specific to the racing community, and that’s where the interest lies.

It’ll probably be a year or so before this book will be out, and I’ll still be compiling salita until the manuscript goes to press. It’ll be the first study and book on this particular topic as seen through the lens of subcultural studies.

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 Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecember

 

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