MANILA, Philippines - Five three-year-old colts and six fillies make up the big cast competing in the 2010 PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Cup this afternoon at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.
Mega Red, a chestnut colt from the vast stable of businessman Hermie Esguerra, is highly expected to set out as top favorite under jockey Jessie Guce in this revival of what was once a regular part of the horse racing calendar.
Challenging Mega Red in the 1500-meter race set at 5 p.m. are Just One Wink (J. Cordova), Masaganang Ani (E. Blancaflor), Indy’s Gift (F. Racquel), Winner’s Lane (A. Tancioco), My Little Grace (Pat Dilema), Fischer Champ (A. Asuncion), Just Enough (C. Henson), Skyline Pigeon (G. Mejico), True Enough (JA Guce) and Jackshow King ( Hipolito).
They will vie for a total cast pot of P300,000 put up by the Philippine Racing Commission headed by chairman Ferdinand Rojas II, with the winner taking P180,000, runner-up P67,500, and third P37,500.
“We are pleased to revive the PSA Cup and thank the sportswriters for their support to horseracing,” said Rojas.
For his part, PSA president Teddyvic Melendres of the Inquirer thanked the horseracing body for becoming a partner again of the sportswriting fraternity in staging the PSA Cup which was shelved in the last five years.
Trained by the veteran Dave dela Cruz, Mega Red is tipped to win with Just One Wink and Indy’s Gift, both fillies, expected to provide the strongest challenge.
The winner should be negotiating the distance in 1 minute and 37 seconds or less.
The lineup:
Masaganang Ani (E. Blancaflor, 53kgs), Indy’s Gift (F. Racquel Jr., 53 kgs), Mega Red (J. Guce, 54.5 kgs), Winner’s Lane (A. Tancioco, 54.5 kgs), My Little Grace (Pat Dilema, 53 kgs), Just One Wink (J. Cordova, 53kgs), Fischer Champ (A. Asuncion, 53 kgs), Just Enough (C. Henson, 54.5 kgs), True Enough (JA Guced 53 kgs) and Jacksshow King (R. Hipolito, 54.5 kgs).