Marking his return to big-time racing after being sidetracked by an injury that forced him to skip the first leg of the Triple Crown series, Empire King nosed out Cover Girl in a thrilling photo finish to snatch the J.V. Ongpin Cup at the Santa Ana Park.
Ace jockey Jaja Ladiana, on top of Empire King, outsmarted Eldie Salvador on Cover Girl, steering his mount past the heavy favorite in their gripping neck-and-neck duel on the top of the stretch down to the finish line.
Empire King, who sold P377,152 out of the grand total sales of P1,391,688, turned in a 1:54.6 clocking with fraction times of 14’-21’-25’-25’-27’.
The race was decided via photo finish, but for the big Sunday crowd, which included boxing hero Manny Pacquiao, it was crystal clear that Empire King nipped Cover Girl at the wire.
Thanks to Ladiana’s superb handling of the champion horse, who had been tipped as this year’s top bet for the Triple Crown series following a series of emphatic victories until an injury forced him to drop out of the kickoff leg of the Triple Crown last month.
Ladiana bolted Empire King out of the gate in third position and they stalked speedsters Speed O’War and Moab majority of the 1,800-meter race before making their move at the far turn with Cover Girl uncharacteriscally dropping from as far back as sixth place from fourth place. Ramon Romualdez
Running three-wide at the top of the stretch, Empire King, a three-year-old colt by Perfect Halo out Carta Nueve, swept past the fading Moab but found Cover Girl bursting out of nowhere in the inner rail and into a share of the lead.
For a while, Cover Girl, the Khozaam-Gallant Native progeny who sparked hopes of a TC sweep with an impressive victory in the Eduardo Cojuangco Cup, appeared headed for a big come-from-behind win. But the long rally Cover Girl had to stage took its toll on her down the stretch.
The victory thus netted Empire King owner David Lee a cool P1 million with Cover Girl settling for P376,750 prize for the C&H Enterprises stable.
Cool Runnings placed third and took home P209,250. — Ramon Romualdez