Unprecedented sweep marks MJC historic 150th anniversary

MANILA, Philippines - Local racing juggernaut SC Stockfarm achieved the unprecedented Sunday as it swept all four top money events marking the historic 150th founding anniversary of Manila Jockey Club at the packed San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.

Emerging as the biggest winner of the burgeoning stable was US-bred charger Hitting Spree, a four-year-old dark bay filly which stole the thunder from her celebrated coupled-entry Sakima by pulling off a decisive victory in the featured MJCI 1867 “Founder’s Cup” classic.

 Confidently ridden by jockey Kelvin Abobo, Hitting Spree took command of the race going into the final 600 meters and steadily extended her lead rounding the final turn en route to the finish, more than five-lengths clear of Atomicseventynine and Kanlaon, with late rushing favorite Sakima finishing fourth.

Earlier on, three other bets from the same stable scored equally impressive runaway victories in the 3-year-old divisional championships, including 2016 Juvenile Champion Sepfourteen, which won the coveted first leg of the 2017 Philracom Triple Crown, as well as, Brilliance and Selfie, which dominated the Philracom “Hopeful” and “3YO Local-bred” stakes races, respectively.

Undefeated Sepfourteen, by Consolidator (USA) out of Regal Boom (AUS) by Thunder Gulch (USA), stepped up big time in his first major start as a 3-year-old and looked headed for another banner year with regular rider John Alvin Guce on the saddle.

SC Stockfarm’s main man, Oliver “Jojo” Velasquez received a trove of trophies for the unmatched sweep of four stakes races, which he credited to his winning team that included trainers Chito Santos and Dodek Vicente, consultant Ruben Clor, stable jockeys John Alvin Guce and Kelvin Abobo, apprentice jockey RD Raquel, Jr., his dependable stable crew and staff.

“It is indeed most fitting that this important milestone in the history of Manila Jockey Club, the pioneer race club in Asia, would showcase the rise of a new racing powerhouse and the continuing quest to achieve superiority in the sport industry. For 150 years, we stand proud to have witnessed the birth of a nation and several generations of dedicated horsemen and racing aficionados who have kept the flame alive,” said MJCI chairman and CEO Alfonso “Boy” Reyno Jr.

As a fitting celebration to 150 years of horseracing in the Philippines, MJCI successfully staged the richest race card in the country, with total guaranteed prizes in excess of P14.5-million made possible through the support of the Philippine Racing Commission, PCSO, Fundador, City of Dreams and Resorts World Manila.