Anybody’s game in Triple Crown

MANILA, Philippines - The quest for racing glory begins for the best crop of three-year-old colts and fillies in the country as the first leg of the 2013 Triple Crown Series blasts off today at the MetroTurf, the country’s newest racetrack, in Malvar, Batangas.

Eleven contenders are competing in the 36th edition of the series, which has a total prize of P3-million put up by the sponsoring Philippine Racing Commission. The distance is 1,600 meters.

The official list includes Captain Ball (Pati Dilema and Borj Khalifa – Deo Fernandez of Herminio Esguerra),  Be Humble (Alvin Guce of Ruben Dimacuha), Boss Jaden (Jeffrey Bacaycay of Sito Esquivias),  Divine Eagle  (Mark Alvarez of Zenaida de Guzman),  El Libertador (Jonathan Hernandez of Mayor Benhur Abalos Jr.), Grand Strikes Girl (Paolo Guce of Wilbert Tan), Haring Benedict (Chris Garganta of Patrick Martinez), Hot And Spicy (Jeffril Zarate of Joseph Dyhengco), Keep The Pledge (EG Reyes of Melaince Habla),  and Spinning Ridge (Val Dilema of the SC Stockfarm Inc.).

“This is a free-for-all as of the moment. There could be slight favorites, but all of the contenders are capable of winning any time, any day. We wish them all good luck,” said MetroTurf senior vice president Rudy Prado. “We thank the sponsoring Philracom for sponsoring such a great series that is surely a big hit to all racing aficionados. MetroTurf invites all the racing fans to be with us as we host the very first leg of this year’s prestigious series for the best 3-year-olds in the land.”

The winner goes home with the P1.8-million plus a trophy while the runner-up picks up P675,000, third placer P375,000, and the fourth placer P150,000. The breeder of the winning horse also receives a P100,000 bonus.

Only 10 horses have won the local version of the Triple Crown Series since it was initiated by the Philracom in 1978. Among them were Fair & Square in 1981, Skywalker in 1983, Time Master in 1987, Magic Showtime in 1988, Sun Dancer in 1989, Strong Material in 1996, Real Top in 1998, Silver Story in 2001, and Hagdang Bato who did the hat-trick last year.

Among the current crop of jockeys, Jonathan Hernandez holds the most number of wins in the past with nine (next only to EL Maestro Jesus Guce who has 12 and his contemporary Eduardo Domingo Jr. who has 11) victories. Hernandez, known in the racing circle as Unoh, has two Triple Crown champions – Sun Dancer and Hagdang Bato.

Meanwhile, the MetroTurf is also hosting today another major Philracom-sponsored event which is the P1-million Hopeful Stakes.