MANILA, Philippines - Far second choice Don Enrico overtook oustanding favorite Ibarra in the closing strides to capture the PCSO-sponsored 14th First Gentleman Silver Cup race in a big upset yesterday at the Saddle and Clubs Leisure Park in Naic, Cavite.
Acknowledged as the finest among the many offsprings of local champion Wind Blown, Don Enrico let Ibarra do the pacing before making his move just as the field started pounding the homestretch en route to the win worth P1.2 million for owner Lorraine Uy Wi.
Ably handled by jockey Fernando Racquel Jr., Don Enrico won by a length in the 2000-meter race, clocking 2 minutes, 07.5 seconds as he beat Ibarra for the second time in three meetings while raising his total stakes triumphs since January to five.
Ibarra settled for the runner-up prize of P350,000 under rider Patti Dilema, as he failed to live up to high expectations in this event where he garnered more than half a million of the P770,773 sales in the daily double betting.
Hieroglyphics (CB Tamano) came in third, with Shining Fame (Jesse Guce) landing fourth, Mr. Victory (Rodeo Fernandez) fifth, Defiant (AF Sullano) sixth, Anonymous (Oyet Alcasid) seventh and El Terrible (Jeffril Zarate) eighth and last.
Earlier in the afternoon, second pick Blue Seal pulled away at the top of the long stretch under jockey Jeffril Zarate to top the Hopeful Stakes 2, beating first choice Boudica (Manolito Daquis) by some three lengths in the 1800-meter race which he negotiated in 1:55.5.
Trained by David Clor for owner JA Ilano and Sons, Blue Seal watched the fast-starting Princess Jacklyn (Fernando Racquel) and Boudica fade out going into the final 300 meters to go unchallenged the rest of the way.
Blue Seal bagged P600,000, while stretching his winning run to five dating back last May 5.
Go Navy (Antonio Alcasid) wound up third, Princess Jacklyn fourth, Chief of Staff (Val Dilema) fifth, Action Sailor (Jesse Guce) sixth and Henry Sugar seventh in the race serving as an auxilliary event of the 2009 Triple Crown Series.
In the other highlight event, top favorite Brother Barack, ridden by Antonio Alcasid, left coupled entry Carriedo and six others behind turning for home to rule the 2-Year-Old stakes race and reward owner Hermie Esguerra the top prize of P300,000.