Skyway foils Blue Berry in Manila Turf race

MANILA, Philippines -  Veteran stakes campaigner Skyway lived up to the hype, winning the Philracom 4YO and  Up Stakes Race at the Metro Manila Turf Club in Malvar, Batangas recently.

But the victory didn’t come easy as she had to buck Blue Berry’s tough challenge from start to finish before pulling off the hard-fought win.

Sent-off as odds-on favorite in the featured encounter of seasoned racers, the six-year-old gray galloper took command of the race from the get go, relinquished the lead to Blue Berry three-quarters of the way but fought back in the final stretch to outduel her rival by half-a-length at the wire.

“She still has plenty of horse left and I know that she cannot be outrun by Blue Berry,” said rider Oneal Cortez, a former apprentice jockey.

The celebrated island born race mare by Bertrando (USA) out of Maria’s Tale (USA) by Maria’s Mon (USA), covered the 1,400-meter track encounter in 1:23.6 with splits of 13-22-22.6-26 to bag the P300,000 top prize for owner and breeder Cool Summer Farm.

“She really runs her best at the Metroturf track which is also where she posted her biggest career win in the PCSO Silver Cup two years ago over such notables like Low Profile, Dixie Gold, Pugad Lawin and Hagdang Bato,” said businessman Joseph “Joey” Dyhengco.