Obra Maestra favored in Philracom’s triple Crown first leg set on Sunday
EIGHt of the country’s finest thoroughbreds led by undefeated Obra Maestra clash in the first leg of the most prestigious racing extravaganza for three-year-old horses—the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom)-backed triple Crown series on Sunday at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.
Philracom Chairman Andrew Sanchez and his commissioners Bienvenido Niles Jr. and Dante Lantin made the announcement during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Amelie Hotel in Malate, Manila, tuesday morning.
“the triple Crown is one of the most prestigious races in our racing calendar,” Sanchez said. “Only the best horses get to run here.”
Leading the triple Crown’s powerhouse cast is Leonardo Javier Jr.’s Obra Maestra, which was crowned Horse of the Year and Champion 2YO of the Year by the Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners after earning P3.48 million in prizes in 2018.
Out to give Obra Maestra a run for its money are Boss Emong (jockey Jt Zarate, owner Edward Vincent M. Diokno); JAYZ (Ja Guce, SC Stockfarm Inc.); My Jopay (RD Raquel Jr., Moises B. Villasenor); My Shelltex (JB Hernandez, Antonio V. tan Jr.); Real Gold (JP A Guce, C&H Enterprises Inc.); toy for the Bigboy (JB Cardova, Alfredo Santos) and Westeros (AR Villegas, Juan Miguel D. Yulo).
“the triple Crown is patterned after the United States’s triple Crown, with its three legs comprised of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, also with progressively longer distances,” Niles told the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.