Philtobo holds horse show at San Lazaro

SOME 40 juvenile horses were paraded in front of prospective buyers and other members of the industry at the Philippine Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Gintong Lahi horse show last Monday (July) 25 at San Lazaro Leisure Park.

This is the third edition of Philtobo’s annual event that showcases the best Philippine-bred and island-born 2YOs in training.

Philtobo came out once again with a catalog. This year’s lists 83 hips (horses), but only 15 of them were for sale, from the stables of Manny Santos (Jade Bros. Farm) and the estate of the late Congressman Enrique “Henry” Cojuangco.

Among the stallions represented were Lim Expensive Toys and Real Spicy, familiar to kareristas as former stakes runners here, as well as Hook and Ladder and Quaker Ridge, many of whose progeny have shown prowess on the local track. Retap is a son of Tapit, North America’s leading sire in 2014 and breaking his own sales record in 2015.

I took quite a fancy to Hip No. 73, a bay filly by Telesto (Mr. Prospector x Aviance) out of former elite racemare Tatler Cover (Hazm x Heretofore). She is a lovely dark beauty bred by Herminio Esguerra’s Herma Farm & Stud in Lipa, Batangas.

The filly’s dam, Tatler Cover, has produced five runners, all winners. Four are black-type entries in the pedigree—Eternal Flame, Manalig Ka, Brother Barack, and High Voltage—while the fifth, Mr. Tatler, has notched 29 wins.

We look forward to the future career of this lovely filly and that of the 82 other juveniles, and wish their connections the best of luck as they seek to win all the trophies and all the purses they can.

Congratulations to the Philtobo Board of Directors headed by Manny Santos, and our best wishes to Philippine Racing Commission Commissioner Bienvenido C. Niles Jr., who, during his time before as Philtobo president, was instrumental in establishing the racing and breeding events that Philtobo is known for.

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Before proceeding to the Philtobo horse show, I visited, for the first time, the New Philippine Jockeys Association office also in Carmona, Cavite.

While there, I mentioned to NPJA Auditor Antonio B. Alcasid Jr. that I will donate all my racing materials (magazines, books, documents owned by the late jockeys’ mentor George Y. Stribling, and other ephemera) to the NPJA for safekeeping this August.

A box of materials I had sent to them some years ago was still unopened and unsorted.

This brought us both to the realization that the industry urgently needs an archive. Races are still stored on VHS tape! I actually saw an ancient VHS recorder/player still in use there, and Alcasid worries that it will be difficult to review races when it finally breaks down.

I hope that the Philracom and other industry stakeholders can join forces to provide space and a librarian or two for an archive of Philippine horseracing. It’s a shame we don’t have records of the races of legends: horses such as Sun God, Fair and Square, and Sun Dancer; and jockeys including jockey Elias, “El Maestro” Jesus Guce, and Eduardo “Boboc” Domingo Jr.

I have tried to do my part to preserve racing history by sending some materials to the National Library (MARHO and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office souvenir magazines), but I still have so much left, as do other taga-karera and kareristas who through the decades have collected historically valuable photos, newspaper clippings, copies of Dividendazo, tickets, and whatnot.

We also need to preserve racing’s collective memory by videotaping personal interviews with kareristas, especially old-timers who can help us reconstruct our sport’s glorious and exciting past that we have lost through neglect and indifference.

The longer we wait to set this up, the longer we will have to catch up when we finally do. I beg the industry, let’s get this started. Believe it or not, history and heritage are important. – By Jenny Ortuoste (The Standard)

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