GMA graces Wind Blown’s historic romp

Wind Blown scored an expected romp in the PCSO Presidential Gold Cup yesterday, winning the country’s most prestigious racing championship before a Sunday crowd that included the very person on whose honor the event was held – President Arroyo.

The victory was swift and decisive as Wind Blown galloped home unopposed the way he did in ruling last year’s event, beating Batangas Entry and Charlemagne by six lengths to bank another P1.5 million purse to owner Hermie Esguerra.

The Chief Executive, who admitted being a racing enthusiast since they had maintained a stable of horses in the past, was all impressed on Wind Blown’s victory, although she was a little bit surprised with the turnout of the fans at the Sta. Ana Park.

"I noticed that it (Sta. Ana) is not as jampacked as before, but I learned later that it’s because more off-tracks have been put up, meaning (horse) racing is now part of the information technology," said the President.

Truly, millions more at the off-tracks or even in their homes through cable TV have witnessed Wind Blown’s latest exploits that lined him up alongside Fair and Square (1981-82), Sun Dancer (1989-90) and Bulldozer (1996-97) as the only back-to-back winners of this blue-ribbon event. He clocked 2:13 over the 2,050-meter event.

Drawing the outermost rail at No. 10, Wind Blown, under the reins of jockey Pat Dilema, pressed speedster Batangas Entry early on up to the judges stand. He seized the lead at the backstretch and built leads of three, four, five lengths, leaving the rest of the field battling for runner-up honors in the event sponsored by the Philippine Charities Sweepstakes Office.