Hagdang Bato too much for rivals in Marho Classic

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning horse of the year Hagdang Bato beat three veterans in a one-sided race yesterday to capture the  SMB-MARHO Classic and show his readiness for the rich, prestigious 41st Presidential Gold Cup next week.

Ridden by Jonathan Hernandez, trained by Ruben Tupas and owned by Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos, the four-year-old Hagdang Bato turned the long 2,000-meter race into a virtual workout  for the Gold Cup, finishing some 12 lengths in front of the Val Dilema-ridden Royal Jewels at the Santa Ana Park.

The son of Quaker Ridge and Fire Down Under timed two minutes, seven seconds as he clinched his 21st career win – and fourth in the season about to end – while boosting his total  earnings to close to P25 million in less than three years of racing.

Hagdang Bato won for his stable the top prize of P830,000 that went up for grabs in the event, the main race of an interesting 15-race program that brought the curtains down in the 18th running of the MARHO racing festival.

Running for the first time since July, Hagdang Bato quickly built a three-length lead  and kept widening it on his way to posting one of the most overwhelming victories in the history of the Classic.

Former Gold Cup champion Native Land (Jesse Guce) came in third and Action sailor (John Paul Guce) finished fourth and last.

The three-year-old Filly Mile championship went to second pick Eurasian, handled by Jeff Zarate, who beat top choice Five Star (Jesse Guce) by three lengths and third placer Queen Quacker (Fernando Racquel) by five. She clocked 1:44. 2 over 1,600 meters.

In another featured race, second favorite The Lady Wins won pulling away over three others  in the two-year-old Juvenile Filly under Patti Dilema with a time of 1:45.8 over 1,600 meters to reward owner Patrick Uy the top prize of P430,000.

Roman Charm (Jeff Zarate), That’s Mine (Jesse Guce) and top favorite Miss Bianca (Mark Alvarez)   placed second, third and fourth, respectively.