Be Humble holds off rivals in Don Juan tilt

MANILA, Philippines - Heavily-favored Be Humble escaped with a razor-thin victory in humbling a compact field of four local chargers in ruling the 12th running of the annual Don Juan Derby 2013 last Sunday at the jampacked MetroTurf in Malvar, Batangas.

Ridden by star jockey Jeffril Zarate, the Pedro Sanchez-trained three-year-old colt dictated the 2,000-meter race right from the start but his three other rivals caught up with him in the mad dash for home.

It was longshot Basic Instinct who tried hard to overtake Be Humble in the last 200 meters with Boss Jaden and Sky Dragon right at their heels.

But Be Humble wouldn’t want to be denied victory as he dug deep in his tank and crossed the payoff wire with only a head lead.  It was worth the whopping top prize of P900,000 for owner Ruben Dimacuha.

Since there were no imported horses in the lineup this year, it stretched the winning skein of the local horses to four in this annual championship for all the three-year-olds (imported and locals) organized by Klub Don Juan de Manila in cooperation with the Metro Manila Turf Club.