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Friday, March 29, 2024

Sepfourteen bags PCSO Gold Cup; Metro Turf to continue operations

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A plucky chestnut colt ran his heart out and gave his ecstatic owner their stable’s first Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Presidential Gold Cup win last Dec. 9.

The 2,000-meter race was held at the Manila Jockey Club, Inc.’s San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite, with eight runners in contention.

Sepfourteen broke well and took the lead, followed closely by stablemate and coupled entry Radioactive. The field passed the grandstand for the first time in a tight bunch, with Salt and Pepper running in third and Electric Truth in fourth.

At the far turn, Pangalusian Island took second position behind Sepfourteen followed by Radioactive and a rallying Electric Truth.

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At the wire, it was Sepfourteen by two lengths over Pangalusian Island, with Electric Truth third and Radioactive fourth. Time: 2:08.4 (25.4-24.4-26.4-25.6-26.6).

Sepfourteen (Consolidator (USA) x Regal Boom (Aus) by Thunder Gulch (USA)) is owned and was bred by Santa Clara Stockfarm Inc. of the Velasquez family. The 4YO champion was ridden by John Alvin Guce and is trained by Tomasito “Chito” Santos.

Thoroughbred breeding expert Manny Viray received the custom-made PCSO Presidential Gold Cup trophy in behalf of the owner. PCSO provided prize money of P3 million for the winner, P1 million for the second placer, P500,000 for third, P300,000 for fourth, and a breeder’s purse of P200,000. The Philippine Racing Commission contributed an additional P1 million distributed from first to fourth place.

On hand at the awarding ceremony, witnessed live and on cable TV by thousands of delighted sports fans, were PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan; Philracom Chairman Andrew Sanchez; MJCI President and CEO Atty. King Reyno; and other officials of the three organizations.

The event was attended by no less than Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of the Philippines, His Excellency Koji Haneda; Indian Embassy representative M. S. Patiyal; Emirates Airlines Philippines country manager Satish Sethi; other dignitaries from the diplomatic community; and other guests from the private sector and national and local government.

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Last week I mentioned that Metro Manila Turf Club, Inc. had decided to suspend operations in the first quarter of 2019 in the face of revenue losses caused in part by deleterious effects of the TRAIN law.

 However, in a bit of good news for the club, its fans and employees, and the industry as a whole, MMTCI, “after careful evaluation of the situation,” has decided to “continue with its racing operations.”

 In a letter dated Dec. 10 and addressed to Philracom, MMTCI said that “in consultation with various stakeholders and well-intentioned business associates and friends in the horseracing industry” the club reconsidered its earlier decision to temporarily suspend racing at their Malvar, Batangas, racecourse from January to March 2019.

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Congratulations to the latest batch of apprentice jockeys!

Philracom granted Apprentice Jockey licenses to Elvin A. Abrea, Pablito M. Cabalejo, Rodito S. Calubiran, Jomer M. Estorque, Marlon P. La Loma, Joel L. Siego, and Ryan Jay C. Tabor. They took their oaths in front of Commissioners Atty. Totoy Santillan and Lyndon Guce last Dec. 11 at the Philracom office in Makati City.

The seven “bug boys” (so-called after the bug-like asterisks that mark the names of apprentice jockeys on the racing program) are allowed to carry lighter handicap weights than journeymen jockeys. For that reason they are attractive to horseowners and trainers who wish to take advantage of the weight allowance.

Expect to see a lot of these new riders on the tracks in the months to come!

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Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and researcher. FB: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @drhoarsewhsprr“‹

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