Philracom bares December stakes races

The Philippine Racing Commission will be staging four stakes races next month, including the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Presidential Gold Cup which serves as the highlight of the year’s racing calendar.

“We anticipate the racing fans will enjoy these top stakes races during the holiday season, and we encourage participants to join in the remaining major races of the year and make them even more memorable and interesting,” said Philracom chairman Andrew Sanchez.

The 43rd PCSO Presidential Gold Cup will be held on Dec. 13 at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite with Philracom putting up P1 million of the total P4 million for the race, with the rest of the purse coming from the race organizer, PCSO.

Bannering the PCSO Gold Cup roster are Dixie Gold, to be ridden by jockey Patricio Dilema, Kanlaon (Val Dilema), Low Profile (Mark Alvarez), Pugad Lawin (JPA Guce), Messi (JA Guce), Tap Dance (JB Guce), Hagdang Bato (Jonathan Hernandez), Malaya (Kelvin Abobo) and Penrith (Christopher Garganta).

To be held the same day is the Philracom Juvenile Championship mile, which is open to two-year-old colts and fillies, with total prizes of P2.5 million for first to fourth places.

On Dec. 20 at Santa Ana Park, Philracom will present the Chairman’s Cup, in honor of a past chairman of the agency. It is a mile race for three-year-old local horses, with total prize money of P2 million.

The last Philracom stakes race of the year, the Grand Derby, will be held on Dec. 27 at Metro Turf racecourse. The 2,000-meter race will test the strength and stamina of three-year-old local horses, and reward the winner and placers with a total of P1 million.

The remaining stakes races for November are the fourth leg of the Juvenile Fillies and the fourth leg of the Juvenile Colts stakes, both 1,500-meter races set for Nov. 22 at San Lazaro.