PSA honors pioneer horse racing scribes

The Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA)– the country’s oldest media organization, in cooperation with the Manila Jockey Club, Inc. (MJCI)–pays tribute to local horse racing’s pioneer writers and commentators with a special one-day card of highlight races this Saturday at the San Lazaro Hippodrome.

Dubbed as the "PSA Racing Festival," the event serves as a fitting prelude to Sunday’s marquee Presidential Gold Cup Day and is made possible through the support of the Philippine Racing Commission (PHILRACOM), the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and Fortune Life Insurance, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners (MARHO) and the Philippine Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Organization (PHILTOBO).

"We are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to take part in this vibrant sport of horse racing to honor some of our peers in the sportswriting profession and possibly, to raise funds in support of our goodwill programs for our members," said PSA president and Manila Standard sports editor Bert Cuevas.

Among those to be honored by the PSA are pioneer horse racing writers and commentators Oscar de Zuñiga of the Manila Chronicle, Camilo Mendez, Sr. of the Manila Times and Daily Mirror, Ben Francisco of People’s Journal and Tony Trinidad of the Daily Express.

The four honorees have been widely read horse racing columnists from the 50’s through the 80’s and have written under such taglines as "Railbird" (de Zuñiga), "On the Nose" (Mendez), "Homestretch" (Francisco) and "There They Go" (Trinidad).

Highlight of the inaugural PSA Racefest would be the running of the PSA Cup, a 1,900-meter invitational stakes race carrying a guaranteed gross prize of P500,000 sponsored by the PHILRACOM.

Meanwhile, four other special invitational cup races named after the four honorees, with a guaranteed winner’s prize of P150,000, have also been lined-up in the day’s card.

"Manila Jockey Club is honored to host this inaugural PSA racefest for the benefit of our friends in the sportswriting fraternity, whose contribution and support play an important part in the overall promotion of the local horse racing industry," according to MJCI president and chief executive, Alfonso "Boy" Reyno Jr.

Top officials of the Philracom, MJCI, the PCSO and other sponsors are expected to be on hand to assist in the awarding of trophies to the winners of the featured PSA Cup Races.