Vavavoom, Villegas rule Philracom-PSA charity race

MANILA, Philippines – Vavavoom, with Andrew “Dodong” Villegas aboard, was a cut above the rest after topping Class 4 of the Philippine Racing Commission’s Metro Manila Turf Inc. charity race for the Philippine Sportswriters Association amid the sudden deluge at the muddied track in Malvar, Batangas over the weekend.

The five-year-old Bay’s magnificence was in full display and left its foes with broken hearts and those watching mesmerized at the spectacle of ruling the 1.4-kilometer race by a whopping five lengths after clocking a minute and 25.8 seconds.

It was a spectacular show of power that left the Dan Camanero-saddled Lucky Lea, CP Henson-ridden Biglang Buhos and JA Guce-mounted Denueis Son settling for crumbs after winding up second to fourth places, respectively.

For the old hands and race fixtures, the lopsided win was as inevitable as the sun rising every morning as Vavavoom was trained by a maestro in grizzled veteran Ruben Tupas and multi-titled horse owner and breeder in Sandy Javier, a known sports man himself having dabbled in basketball in the past.

“Hindi na ako masyado na-surprise kasi lahat ng prestigious races naipanalo ko,” said Tupas, a recipient of multiple trainer of the year awards in the past.

The proceeds of the race will go to the charity programs of the PSA headed by Nelson Beltran, The STAR’s sports editor.

“This annual benefit race is for the PSA and we’re here to partner with the sportswriting community and support their advocacies,” said Philracom president Reli de Leon.

De Leon was accompanied in the awarding ceremony by his acting executive director Ronaldo Corpuz and MMCTI’s race manager Rondy Prado.