The two-length victory thus avenged Cover Girl’s loss to Empire King the last time they met last month in the Freedom Cup where the latter unleashed a strong finishing kick to beat the former at the wire.
It was actually Cover Girl’s coupled entry and veteran stakes race campaigner West Bound who finished second in the day’s featured race as the C&H Enterprises, Inc., which owns Cover Girl and West Bound, ran away with the combined P825,000 prizes, including the top P600,000 purse.
Cover Girl was in the middle of the pack when she bolted out of the starting block but got buried behind as the field made its way at the clubhouse turn, barely ahead of noted stayer Shadowfax.
West Bound, who also had an ax to grind against Empire King after he lost in the Philracom Open, surged past the fading Moab and Speed of War at the far turn and remained in the lead as they swung for home.
At this stage, Cover Girl, superbly handled by jockey Jonathan Hernandez, came rushing past Empire King four-wide then outduelled West Bound in the last 100 meters to rule the event. Empire King settled for P125,00 third prize.
Cover Girl was timed 1:50.5 over the 1,750-meter distance. — Ramon Romualdez