Sepfourteen nears Triple Crown sweep

If Sepfourteen wins the third leg set over a longer distance of 2,000 meters, he’ll join the greats such as Fair and Square in 1981, Skywalker (1983), Time Master (1987), Magic Showtime (1988), Sun Dancer (1989), Strong Material (1996), Real Top (1998), Silver Story (2001), Hagdang Bato (2012), and Kid Molave (2014).

Star jockey John Alvin Guce guided the three-year-old colt sired by Consolidator and Regal Boom to stay behind the frontrunning Brilliance until the third turn of the 1,800 meter course, before making his big move.

Septourteen timed one minute, 54.6 seconds, followed in second by Brilliance and Hiway One at third after joining a close chase for first place in the last 100 meters.

“Sumunod lang po kami kay Brilliance. Kasi de-bandera ito. Iyung akin, de remate lang,” said Guce.

Last month, Sepfourteen took the first leg crown of the 2017 Philracom-Triple Crown Stakes Race by a big margin at the San Lazaro Leisure Park racetracks. At that time, Guce was also on top of him as he found an opportunity to pull away in the last 400 meters.

Sepfourteen took home the second leg prize of P1.8 million, while Brilliance earned P675,000.

Earlier, jockey Jonathan Hernandez swept the first two of the three races of the Philracom Stakes Race. Hernandez and Cerveza Rosas took the top honors in the 3YO Locally Bred Stakes Race, beating Batang Poblacion and Alfie. This earned them a purse of P300,000.

Afterwards, Hernandez rode Smokin Saturday to the second leg trophy of the Hopeful Stakes Race to win P600,000 over Great Wall (Apoy Asuncion, P225,000) and Mount Pulag (Raquel, P125,000).