Former champs banner elite W Slasher Cup cast

MANILA, Philippines – Sonny Lagon and his team, and the triumvirate of Mario Villamor, Ed Apari and Art de Castro and their champion fight cocks banner a crack cast slugging it out in the 2016 World Slasher Cup-2 Eight-Cock Invitational Derby starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

A host of other former WSC champs are among around 260 entries in the event seen as a fitting sequel to the record-setting 2016 World Slasher Cup-1 last January with 410 registered entries.

Lagon’s Blue Blade Farm and Phoenix II of Villamor, Apari and De Castro, co-winners in the January WSC, seek a double championship in the season while Denny Salazar goes for a repeat of his 2015 WSC-2 championship.

Day One will have an estimated 135 foreign and local entries clashing in the first set of elims in the event sponsored by Thunderbird, B-Meg, Petron, Red Bull with media partner Manila Broadcasting Corp.

Also in the list are 2014 WSC-2 champions Eddie Bong Plaza and Arjay Mea; January 2015 solo champ AAO Hyper B-12 owned by Gerry Ramos and Noel Jarin who have split their entries for this derby; three-time champions Rey Briones, Dicky Lim and Patrick Antonio; regulars and former champs Nene Araneta, Vergil “Ali” Intino and Ito Ynares.

The derby’s second edition brings foreign participants from the United States, Australia and Indonesia. American delegates include Ray Alexander, Damon Yorkman and Greg Berin.