As far as I can remember, the two fabled local horse racetracks — the San Lazaro Hippodrome in Sta. Cruz, Manila, and Sta. Ana Park in Makati — were where people went to win some money and scream themselves hoarse.
Neither had the grandeur of Churchill Downs, the elegance of Pimlico, nor the electric atmosphere of Belmont. But both racecourses possessed traditions and histories all their own, with aficionados packing the grandstands and perimeter walls every race day, rocking the place from noon until nightfall.
The greats raced there and built their legends, among them Fair and Square, Skywalker, Time Master, Sun Dancer, Hagdang Bato and Kid Molave — all Triple Crown winners.
Philippine horse-racing folklore even whispers of a mythical Australian thoroughbred, a chestnut with a solid copper-red coat and matching mane and tail, who reportedly blew away the competition at San Lazaro by 17 to 23 lengths sometime in the mid-1970s.
The horse’s name? Red Fantasy.
Those storied racetracks are gone now, having yielded to commercial development and gentrification. In their place rose several modern racecourses south of Manila, the most prominent of which are MetroTurf in Malvar and Tanauan, Batangas, and the Philippine Jockey Club in Padre Garcia, Batangas.
It was to the PJC, also known as the Horsemen’s Track, that four of us — Alex Altura, a buddy from Quezon City, and fellow racehorse lovers Lynard Tan and Leo Almuete, from Molino, Cavite — drove an hour-and-a-half last Sunday to catch the first leg of the 2026 Philracom Triple Crown series.
Breaking ground in May 2022 and opening last November, the sand-based racecourse sits on 50 hectares of land, with the lush slopes of Mt. Malarayat serving as backdrop as the horses navigate the clubhouse turn.
A large, motley crowd filled the grandstand for the day’s stakes races, while the rectangular, glass-paneled, air-conditioned viewing room brimmed with anticipation for Race 6 — the event that would determine which horse might retrace the gallop of Heneral Kalentong, the last Triple Crown winner back in 2020.
Scheduled for mid-afternoon, the featured 1,650-meter First Leg drew seven entries and quickly developed into a virtual match race between the unbeaten Isa Bell, ridden by JB Hernandez, and Diamante, with Pat Dilema aboard.
The two ran neck and neck along the backstretch before turning for home. That was when Hernandez — the 2026 Philippine Sportswriters Association Jockey of the Year awardee — finally let the three-year-old grey filly loose. Isa Bell pulled away comfortably, winning by six and a half lengths over Bermuda Triangle and the fast-fading Diamante.
As significant as Isa Bell’s victory was for Bell Racing Stable owner Elmer de Leon and his daughter Bea de Leon — the former Ateneo volleyball star and current Creamline Cool Smashers middle blocker in the Philippine Volleyball League — the bigger story came from Philracom chairman Reli de Leon.
“Yes, Isa Bell is running in the second leg of the Triple Crown on June 14 at MetroTurf,” De Leon (no relation to the father-daughter duo) said after the awarding ceremony, attended by businessman Sandy Javier, breeder and owner of 1996 TC champion Strong Material and Presidential Gold Cup winner Wind Blown, among others.
Now that’s something for the ‘bayang karerista’ to look forward to — a suspense-filled high-stakes race with the second jewel of the Triple Crown on the line. Not to mention a chance for us buddies to recoup some of our losses from last Sunday.
