WITH veteran jockey Pat Dilema on top, dark horse El Jaleo seized the early lead to win the 1,000-meter Sprint Race for three-year-olds in a time of 59 seconds over the weekend at the Metro Manila Turf Club Inc. track in Malvar, Batangas.
Owned by former Local Government Secretary Ben Abalos Jr., El Jaleo emerged as a wire-to-wire winner, clinching the race handily by four lengths over second placer Diamond Power.
The win was worth P600,000 in the stakes race organized by the Philippine Racing Commission led by chairman Reli de Leon, with Diamond Power settling for the runner-up purse of P200,000 while Circus Crowd was third and took home P100,000.
As the owner and breeder, Abalos also pocketed P50,000.
Next up on Sunday will be the revived Ramon Bagatsing Memorial Cup named after the late Manila Mayor, a popular and avid horse racing supporter.
