P8-million Bagatsing racefest slated at San Lazaro

MANILA, Philippines — The Mayor Ramon D. Bagatsing Memorial Cup is bringing an action-packed race card for the 10th year in a row, with over P8 million in total prizes at stake.

The country’s premier horse racing club, the Manila Jockey Club Inc., will be hosting the 10th edition of the Racing Festival Aug. 25-26 at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite, featuring the fastest thoroughbreds in the country today.

This special racing event is held in honor of the former Manila Mayor, Ramon D. Bagatsing Sr. who went beyond the usual call of civic duty to help people by making what they needed accessible and free. 

Proceeds will help fund the KABAKA Foundation Inc., whose mission is caring for the sick and helping the poorest of the poor and the less privileged of Manila. Founded by Rep. Amado Bagatsing, Kabaka continues the Mayor’s legacy through his son, whose mission has helped over 50,000 Manila residents.

The late mayor’s sons, Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing and former Manila congressman and lawyer Ramon S. Bagatsing Jr., themselves longtime horse owners and breeders, established the event in 2009. 

For the past decade the legacy of the Bagatsing Cup and the Mayor Ramon Bagatsing Racing Festival continues to bring in a record number of viewers, participants and sales both on and off the race track. The record breaking sales of P43,281,228.00 was garnered from the 2014 edition of the Bagatsing Racing Festival, which  remains the highest grossing racefest for five years running.

The first headlining race is the Resorts World Manila Challenge of Champions, a high stakes race open to all four-year-old and above local and imported horses. 

Among the notable entries are Hitting Spree, who won the prized MJC Founder’s Cup; undefeated imported enttry My Ticket Home; Salt and Pepper, considered the best local horse in the country today and Eugenie, Mandatum, Scarborough Shoal and Truly Ponti. 

The Mayor Ramon Bagatsing Sr. 3 YO Open Classics pits local and imported three-year-olds.

Wonderland, winner of the second leg of this year’s Triple Crown Series and considered the best imported three-year-old horse in the country, will be joined by Dragon Butterfly, Filipino Emperor, Jaqueline, Princess Eowyn and River Island. 

The Resorts World Manila Challenge of Champions and the Mayor Ramon D. Bagatsing Sr. 3 YO Open Classics will give out P2.2M in cash prizes.

The prizes will be awarded by major sponsors Resorts World Manila, Philippine Racing Commission, Philippine Charity  Sweeptakes Office, Manila Jockey Club, Inc.  and Solaire Resort and Casino. The event is backed by the City of Dreams, Eddie Gonzales’s EEG Dev. Cor, Extreme TV, F.R. Sevilla, Stradcom, Andok’s Dokito Frito.