Philracom stakes P18M in big races

Big-time racing makes a grand comeback on March 19 at the San Lazaro Hippodrome as the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) officially launches its P18-Million stakes program for the year with the staging of the P1-million Philracom 26th Anniversary Racing Festival.

Philracom chairman Benedicto Katigbak made this announcement yesterday following the opening of entry nominations for the twinbill Philracom Anniversary Cup and the Philracom Three-Year-Old Championships Handicap races open to three-year-old locally-born horses that have already participated in a race.

"We are certainly glad that the Philracom Anniversary Racing Festival provides the ideal opportunity for us to start the year 2000 stakes program, a series of lucrative stakes and special races that is intended not only to heighten the level of competition in our tracks but also to raise public awareness and patronage of horse racing," Katigbak said.

A major component of the year-long Philracom-sponsored stakes program will be the running of six championship races carrying a purse of no less than P1-million each bannered by the much-awaited renewal of the Philracom Triple Crown Series starting May 21 at the Santa Ana Park.

"This years Triple Crown Series will certainly be the biggest and richest ever in its 22-year history with the winners of each leg to receive P1-Million in guaranteed purse, a substantial P400,000 increase from the previous years winner's prize," Katigbak explained.