Aussie, NZ bets vie in stakes race

Six classy imports from Australia and New Zealand make up the field of challengers vying for the fourth leg of the 2005 Imported Stakes Series, a P450,000 event set to flag-off today at the Santa Ana Park.

The Philracom-sponsored event and qualifying leg to the All-Import Championship later this year will be disputed over a distance of 1,800 meters.

Leading the chase for the premier spot is Aussie-bred filly Wild Orchid, a three-year-old by High Yield out of Dove Orchid and set to be skippered by jockey Fernando Raquel Jr. Racing out of the Edmond Moreno Racing Stable and trained by Jose Fernandez, Wild Orchid finished a fighting third to Sound Offer (AUS) in the third leg of the series last month at the Santa Ana Park.

Expected to pose a big challenge to Wild Orchid are the coupled-entries Desirable and Flying Princess, race mares bred and raised in New Zealand and owned by businessman Eduardo Gonzalez. Five-year-old Desirable is by Volksraad out of Grosvenor Sky while Flying Princess is by Mellifont out of Flying Light and said horses are set to be ridden by jockeys Patricio Dilema and Manolito Daquis for the journey.

Also in the hunt is veteran speedball Trieste (Zeditave-Prego Fast) and the coupled bets Las Snip (Last Tycoon-Snipette) and Teetotal (Quest for Fame-Lamas), to be ridden by jockeys Jonathan Hernandez, Antonio Alcasid Jr. and Jesse Guce, respectively.

Winner of the race is guaranteed to receive P270,000 with the three other placers receiving P101,250, P56,250 and P22,500 in place money.

Lending support for the running of the Imported Stakes Series IV are two other featured events dubbed as the PRCI Sprint Specials, invitational races among local and foreign-bred campaigners similarly set over sprint distance of 900 meters and carrying a guaranteed winner’s purse of P180,000 each. — Ramon Romualdez