Big-time racing fires up at the San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park (SLLBP) in Carmona, Cavite when the gates open at 1:30 p.m. today for the P1.2 million Sampaguita Stakes Race sponsored by the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) and the Klub Don Juan De Manila Derby and hosted by the Manila Jockey Club (MJC).
In the Sampaguita Stakes Race, the principal protagonists for the P720,000 top prize are Philippine Derby winner Es Twenty Six and first leg of this year’s Triple Crown series winner and last year’s juvenile champion Indelible Ink over a distance of 1,900 meters.
Racing experts are picking Es Twenty Six, which has been tuning up aggressively for this event over Indelible Ink, which has been idle the past several weeks.
Others joining the chase are Flavorofthemonth, Golden Connection, Pearl Buck Treeasured Ack and Victorian Stone. The runner-up will take home P270,000, while the third and fourth finishers will get P150,000 and P50,000, respectively.
“I wish to invite the bayang karerista to come to SLLBP or to any nearest OTB and witness the quality races,” said MJC chairman and president Alfonso Reyno Jr.
This year’s derby offers P1.5 million in the 2,000-meter race, which will feature the country’s best three-year-old imported and local colts.
Other major stakes races — the Philracom-sponsored Juvenile Colts and Juvenile Fillies Championships, the Don Antonio Floirendo Golden Girls Stakes and the Herma Farms & Stud-sponsored Mr. Sutter Cup — are also lined up for today’s racing festivities.