Tensile Strength rules Bagatsing racefest

MANILA, Philippines - Tensile Strength beat an elite field of five horses to win the Division I race of the third Ramon Bagatsing Memorial Racing Festival at the San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park in Cavite last Sunday.

Owned by Jun Sevilla, Tensile Strength swept past a fading Hari ng Yambo in the last 600 meters then held off a late-charging Magna Carta to rule the 1,900-meter race with a two-minute clocking.

“We were up against four sprint horses. Our horse was in good condition. When we saw that during the last 600 meters no one was pulling away, it was time that we take charge of the race,” said Sevilla, whose entry humbled this year’s winners of the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Meanwhile, Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing thanked all horseracing fans for helping the racing festival set a new sales record at San Lazaro.

“We are very much grateful to everyone for helping the third Ramon Bagatsing Memorial Racing Festival a success. The horseracing industry is very much alive and will only get better and stronger,” Bagatsing said.

The P29.59 million in sales surpassed the Bagatsing family’s P28 million projection for the third installment of the racing festival. The previous record at San Lazaro was P27 million.