The American-bred horses proved to be the stronger ones as they dominated three of the major stakes races including the centerpiece Don Juan Derby 2006 last Sunday at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.
Big Deb, a Kentucky-bred bay filly by Louis Quatorze out of Debby Dot Am, upset her more fancied rivals in the P2-million Don Juan Derby to affirm the US-bred imports’s domination of the major events organized by the Klub Don Juan de Manila and hosted by the Manila Jockey Club.
“Masuwerte lang talaga! Ginawa ko lang yung diskarte na pinagawa sa akin kung kaya naman pinabayaan ko lang siyang nasa likod ng grupo. Mahaba ang laban kasi kaya tinitignan namin na baka magkagigilan sila sa harapan. Ganun nga ang nangyari,“ said the winning rider and a veteran of so many stakes races Manolito Daquis.
Right after the gates flew open, jockey Daquis simply tightened his reins as he elected to run off-the-pace. Rebecca’s Magic and Don Exequiel were the early leaders and fought tooth-and-nail up until the third quarter.
Big Deb, owned by Paulino Francisco Cayco and conditioned by his brother Val Cayco, silently made a big run in the backstretch while running beside the rail traffic-free.
Fairy Queen, another filly imported from Australia, and local favorite Manhattan were fighting it out for the lead in the mad dash for home when Big Deb squeezed through two horses and caught up with the two leaders at the top of the stretch.
It was all over from there as Big Deb flew home all by herself to win the top prize of P1.15-million and an elegant trophy. She is the third imported runner to win this richest single race among the best 3-year-olds in the land since its inception in 2002.
The other four winners include the local Free Wind in the inaugurals followed by the imported Midnight Lady in 2003, the local Don Paolo in 2004, and the imported Wild Orchid last year.
Fairy Queen rewarded owner David Lee the runnerup prize of P430,000 while Engr. Ed Mailom’s Manhattan picked up P230,00 for placing third and imported runner Hear Me checked in fourth for P90,000. The other finishers in this nine-horse field were Bienvenido Niles’s Leave No Doubt, Hermie Esguerra’s Don Exequiel, Romy Hernandez’s Rebecca’s Magic, Dominic Francisco’s Gundam, and Raymund Puyat’s Manila’s Gem in that order. The fifth to ninth placers received a consolation of P20,000 each.
Big Deb was clocked an impressive 2:08 in the 2,000-meter distance with quarters of 25-24-26-25-28.
Meanwhile, the two other American-bred runners who won in the other major stakes were No Fear in the San Lazaro Leisure Park Juvenile Fillies Championship and Deputy Stravinsky in the Philracom Juvenile Colts.
Maribeth Frondarina’s No Fear made mincemeat of her rivals with noted rider JB Hernandez on board to win the top prize of P300,000 in the 1,400-meter race. The filly by Atticus out of Golden Beauty is late last year’s graduate of the Fasig-Tipton Mid-atlantic Sales in Maryland who is being trained by Donnie Sordan.
Irene’s Fantasy placed second for P112,500 while Lady Commander and Condoleeza checked in third and fourth for P62,500 and P25,000, respectively. The other finishers were Es Twenty Six, Lancia Stratos, Landed Visa, Aunt Margaret, Hillary, and AP Tizzy in that order. Please Do, another official entry, was scratched before the race started.
On the other hand hand, another Maryland Sales graduate, Deputy Stravinsky, was also a runaway winner in the Juvenile Colts Championship that was also disputed over the same 1,400-meter race.
Ridden by Julio Manalo, the chestnut colt by Stravinsky out of La Deputay, beat the heralded favorites to bag the top prize of P300,000 and was clocked 1:27 for the said distance.
Pacman came in second for P112,500 while third and fourth placers Miguelito and Macho Man received P62,500 and P25,000, respectively. The other finishers included Tiger Raffy and Iron Tower in that order.
Meanwhile, Hermie Esguerra salvaged a victory in the remaining major event, the fifth running of the Don Antonio Floirendo Golden Girls Stakes where his horse Wild Orchid topped her six other rivals.
The 4-year-old bay mare by High Yield out of Dove Orchid duplicated her winning performance in the Derby last year in order to bag the top prize of P300,000. She stopped the clock at 1:49, a second shy of the 1,750-meter record established by stablemate Real Spicy in the June 25 Division I of the Gran Copa de Manila at the same track.
KDJM president Rudy Pamintuan expressed his gratitude to all those who supported the big, annual event. “We are very thankful to all the people and organizations that helped us make this year’s Don Juan Derby a big success. We are looking forward to a bigger event next year!”
Total sales for the day reached P40.5-million which shattered last year’s handle of P40.2-million.
