Radio Active scores upset win in Triple Crown

MANILA, Philippines – Unheralded Radio Active waxed hot just at the right time as he scored a spectacular upset victory in the opening leg of prestigious Philracom Triple Crown Series at the Santa Ana Park and set himself up as the horse to beat in the rich mid-year racing championship for three-year-old gallopers.

Expertly ridden by jockey John Alvin Guce, the notoriously temperamental colt took command of the race rounding the final turn and never looked back, stretching his lead farther down the homestretch and won by daylight in a time of 1:41 flat over 1,600 meters.

“His performance was definitely beyond our expectations and I give credit to our team for keeping their faith in the colt despite all of the early difficulties and setbacks in his training which almost convinced me to withdraw him from the race,” said owner Oliver “Jojo” Velasquez of SC Stockfarm, which earlier last month was honored by Philtobo as 2015 Breeder of the Year.

Being high strung is not new for progenies of Aussie-bred stallion Lim Expensive Toys, a handsome chestnut horse by renowned champion sire Giant’s Causeway out of the well-performed race mare Prophet’s Kiss, who was himself unmanageable as a young galloper but managed to redeem himself as he grew older and was even acclaimed as champion imported galloper in 2009.

Nonetheless, Radio Active probably got his racing edge from his celebrated dam Lacquaria, a stakes winning filly in the US, who was also recognized recently as 2015 Broodmare of the Year for having produced champion older horse Low Profile (by Tribal Rule) and stakes winner Cat’s Dream (by Cat Brulay).

Trained as a two-year-old by renowned US horse trainer John Shirreffs, who also trained the great race mare Zenyatta, Lacquaria won the 1998 California Juvenile Fillies Stakes and Shirreffs fondly remembers her as “a pretty, well-balanced filly with tremendous amounts of natural speed but had the ability to carry it to two turns.”

Lacquaria was purchased from the stock dispersal of breeders Pam and Martin Wygod during the 2010 Barretts Fall Mixed Sale in California, the same sale where My Gal’s Gold, dam of 2015 Presidential Gold Cup winner Dixie Gold, was also acquired.

“His most recent win last April 26 gave us hope that he may finally be ready to challenge the top guns in the division while his last track work at Santa Ana Park convinced us that he is on the verge of a blowout performance,” said Radio Active’s trainer Nestor Manalang.

Such was in fact the case as Radio Active boldly defied the odds and scored one of the biggest upsets in the local Triple Crown’s 39-year history and the only horse with the chance to become the 11th champion of the coveted three-race series for three-year-olds.