thoroughbreds and kois

Our champion 4 yr old colt just got the 8th win of his career tonight at the Santa Ana Park, Makati, Philippines. This is our first stable win this new year 2007 and he won it pulling away against LUCKY JOE, HAKUNA MATATA and VITALITY in a six horse class division race. He was timed 19 24 23' 27'=1:34.0 for the 1500 meter distance. He jumped well from the gate was positioned fourth at the clubhouse turn while Lucky Joe was ahead by 4 lengths at the lead. Jockey Taming Tanagon moved him into second place at the backstretch and then took over the lead with double wrap nearing the final turn. He was 5 lengths and going away into the homestretch so the jockey eased the horse at the finish line.

The Philracom has released its yearend report on the top earning racehorses, owners, trainers and jockeys for the past year 2006. Our champion , MR VICTORY was seventh in the ranking. 1 REAL SPICY 6,579,264.37 2 INGAY INGAY 3,776,470.61 3 DON EXEQUIEL 3,493,477.01 4 SPECIAL EDITION 2,933,172.55 5 EVER MINE NOW 2,919,868.69 6 FAIRY QUEEN 2,837,604.25 7 MR. VICTORY 2,587,698.70 8 LUCKY JOE 2,582,445.88 From 17 starts, he won seven times earning a total of P2.58 for the entire year 2006. We also landed as the top 20th horseowne finishing with a total of more than P7.5million pesos and 24 wins from 196 starts . 20 MADERAZO JJ 7,516,161.49 21 GONZALEZ EE 7,254,244.24 22 ROBES CA JR 7,240,943.20 23 LEE DC 7,163,568.22 24 ALMEDA LC JR 7,037,385.97 25 RED N' STABLE 6,782,237.78 It was a great year for us with 4 stakes wins, including the 3rd leg of the Triple Crown, the HORSEMAN'S CUP. Salamat po Lord...

I don't know how to feel when I read Doc Antonio Alcasid's remark in the new HORSEMAN'S DIGEST magazine that MR VICTORY's win in the 3rd leg of the Triple Crown ,was the sign he was waiting if he would permanently reside in the US. Now, everything comes back when I met him just few minutes after that stirring MR VICTORY win. As I approached the winners stand for the awarding ceremonies, I saw him on the left and I rushed to him to congratulate. But what I saw was a somber and teary eyed Doc. And the first words he told me was.... "Jake., salamat sa lahat... tutuloy na ako sa America....iiwanan ko na si MR VICTORY". The straightforward statement didn't move me except that I felt uneasy about this seemingly sad farewell amid our jubilation... So , that was it... While preparing my horse to the Triple Crown races, Doc was grappling with the monumental decision of accepting his children's' proposal that he should now retire in the US and enjoy life while he and her wife Gloria are still strong...A loving advice from his children, now a doctor and a nurse, he both nurtured with his so called "pawis ng kabayo". And he was waiting for that sign. A win by MR. VICTORY in the triple crown... Now it gets me real straight to the heart. Here I was , newly retired from my long years of a colorful and thankful broadcast career, seeking the dream of becoming the first mediaman to win the Triple Crown. I was also in a quandary on how I could make a champion out of a horse that comes only once in a lifetime for every owner.While we lost the jockey in the 1st leg, Doc was thinking about his children abroad and his life here. I was thinking of how unlucky I have been. When our jockey pulled up our spent horse in the second leg, Doc was already fixed on staying here, maybe.. But when the third leg win came, it was both our triumph. Doc believes his MR VICTORY win was a statement that will resonate for a long time. What a fitting career ending. A retiring champion trainer relocating permanently and winning his last stakes race with the longest odds horse. One that came first from last position with the track announcer saying he just had enough for the afternoon at the mid-backstretch. For me, it was a dream come true. A fitting reward for a hardworking team...An unexpected moolah from the Lord above given to us who deserve. Thank you Lord for all these blessings. Way to go, Doc... I know you will read this piece... but truly, me and my family thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for bringing to our family the real life experience of championship racing... Salamat po..

After the airport send-off our two little tykes,, Kodi and Kathryn were having a grand time at the Power Plant "kids station" where we bought some toys for them. We also had picture taking and I'd like to show you some of them..

Here are more pictures from our send-off event for Ate Lolly and Uncle Len. they boarded the 6:50 pm Saturday flight to Brisbane via Singapore.

It took us and other motorists more than 2 hours in negotiating the short distance from Rockwell to Malibay, Pasay city going to the airport. The reason was the heavy traffic at the right service road of the Airport overpass. Our two cars practically crawled from Buendia-Ayala, Pasay Road, Magallanes and Malibay while our departing passengers Ate Lolly and Uncle Len are getting pretty nervous already. Their flight was at past six and we are still on the road at 410pm...The airport counters opened at 3pm and it is clear that there will be no long goodbyes once we arrive at the Old Naia. It turned out that the MMDA people are sleeping on their job without the knowledge probably that the traffic snarl was already up to Cubao. We saw that long line of crawling cars on the way back up to 8pm.. Anyway, we arrived finally but the people on the other car didn't get to see Ate Lolly and Uncle Len going inside. Among them was Kathryn, Mama, Agnes and Bong...We went back later to Power plant and ate our merienda and then buy toys for Kodi and Kathryn.

Our monstrous 3yo filly MISS VICTORY who is a half sister to our champion MR VICTORY is now preparing for the big stakes races this year. I've asked for the services of trainer Tito Alvarez who has stakes experience,, handling MOAB, MILLION DOLLAR and many others. I really miss Doc Antonio Alcasid in these endeavours because I have total reliance on him. Nevertheless, Tito has been an old time friend and I feel that I can talk to him about my concerns over his training in the future. I had Dr. Modomo checked by ultrasound her tendons and also x-rayed her knees and they were all in perfect condition. Tito asked for blood test and the results too . Doc Modomo just wanted new shoes for her and Tonat the farrier made eggroll shoes for her front feet. The past year, she registered only a second place finish after which we encountered problems about her starting gate habits. The last time, she was frisky inside the gate and her hock hit the gate causing it to inflame. She was requrired by the stewards for two practice jumpouts prior to returning to the races. She's okay now.. Her first stakes race maybe in March this year. The trainer was surprised when he saw MISS VICTORY. She was "big", he said, and had very good strides. I just hope that she will perform well in the coming weeks and months and win the Triple Crown championship around May. I know it is a dream... a half sister tyring to follow-up on his half brother's feat the previous year.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope the LORD helps our team on this effort.