FOURTH PICK Don Exequiel outsteadied Special Edition in a mad dash to the finish line yesterday to rule the first leg of the Triple Crown before a roaring crowd at the San Lazaro Park in Carmona, Cavite.
Given a slight chance to win the event held in honor of business tycoon Eduardo M. Cojuangco, the founding chairman of the Philippine Racing Commission, the prized charger of Hermie Esguerra, zipped past a fast-fading Million Dollar and Batong Silyar down the stretch and then held off the rushing Special Edition to win the 1,600-meter contest.
Credit Don Exequiel’s victory to jockey Ronald Baldonido’s brilliant strategy.
After employing a wait-and-see attitude in the early part of the race — shadowing Million Dollar and Batong Silyar — Don Exequiel made his move at the far turn at the same time the other noted stayers started to mount their rally.
But only Don Exequiel managed to survive the heated race.
The victory was worth R1.2 million for Esguerra, whose three-year-old charger sold only R88,993 out of the total gross sales of R866,328. Don Exequiel clocked 1:41 with quartertimes of 24’-23’-25-28.
Special Edition settled for R450,000 runner-up prize while Tigress in Action nipped Jet Sutter for third worth R250,000 in the event also known as the Cojuangco Cup.
Don Exequiel tries to nail the second jewel next month in the Ongpin Cup at Sta. Ana.
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