Sepfourteen rules TC first leg

MANILA, Philippines - Sepfourteen took the first-leg crown of the 2017 Philippine Racing Commission-Triple Crown series by a big margin recently at the San Lazaro Leisure Park  in  Carmona, Cavite.

With jockey John Alvin Guce on top of him, Sepfourteen found an opportunity to pull away in the last 400 meters.

The 30-year-old Guce prodded the three-year-old colt to move past two bets that were trying to outdo each other right from the get go – Smokin Saturday and Biglang Buhos.

Sepfourteen responded and overtook the two, sprinting to the finish line some 20 meters ahead of the pack when it was over.

He had a clocking of one minute, 49.2 seconds when Sepfourteen completed the 1,600-meter course.

Pangalusian Island and Golden Kingdom then took the cue in overtaking Smokin Saturday and Biglang Buhas to settle for second and third, respectively, in this event which gave away a total purse of P3 million, with the top prize of P1.8M going to Sepfourteen.

Philracom allotted a total of P6.5 million in the three races it contributed to the eight-race Manila Jockey Club extravaganza celebrating its 150th year.

“Tanaw ko nu’ng last 400 meters na malaki ang panalo, kaya tinuloy ko na,” said Guce.

With Selfie ruling Philracom’s 3YO  Locally Bred Stakes Race and Brilliance topping the Hopeful Stakes Race earlier, Sepfourteen made it three in a row for Oliver Velasquez’s SC Stockfarm in the first leg of the most prestigious racing series for three-year-old horses.

The three-leg series is patterned after the United States’ Triple Crown, with its three legs comprising of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes, also with progressively longer distances.

The series was launched in 1978, with Native Gift winning the first two legs and Majority Rule denying him the sweep. There have been only 10 Triple Crown champions since then: Fair and Square in 1981, Skywalker (1983), Time Master (1987), Magic Showtime (1988), Sun Dancer (1989), Strong Material (1996), Real Top (1998), Silver Story (2001), Hagdang Bato (2012), and Kid Molave (2014).