Asian Racing
Padre Garcia Answers Benjie’s Prayer
The world class racing surface of Padre Garcia has proved to be a great friend to the older brigade of horses since it’s opening on November 12, especially those with perhaps some soundness issues winning at the track.
Eleven-year-old Benjie's Prayer (Eugene's Third Son USA), who had not won a race since June 20 last year, and in fact he had only managed to get to the racetrack on three occasion for the whole of last year, absolutely relished the Padre Garcia surface to record back-to-back wins on December 10, and again on January 3 both over 1200 meters. In human terms of age Benjie's Prayer would be considered a galloping grandpa, and so often when these old timers strike a forgiving track surface that lessens the pressure on tendon and joints, they get a new lease of life.
Cool Mom (Zap USA), at the age of nine years old will no doubt soon be just that, a mum, when she is eventually dispatched to the breeding farm to start her stud career, however, the mare showed that wasn't going to be anytime soon when she recorded two wins over 1400 meters in November, after having not won a race since June 2024. Ten-year-old Clairvoyant (Elysium Fields USA) a veteran of 96 starts had battled to win a race since May 17 last year, but showed there was still life in the old boy yet, with a dashing win over 1400 meters on November 15.
Ten-year-old I Love Matty (Telesto USA), had not seen the winners circle since July last year, but there was no holding him back when he scored over 1400 meters at Padre Garcia on December 13. And there have been so many others, like eleven-year-old Boni Avenue (Ibarra Phi) who had forgotten his way to the winning post since October 2024, but belied his years to score a gutsy win off a wide run on January 4 over 1200 meters.
The Padre Garcia racing surface is like none other laid down in the Philippines. Designed by international track guru American Steve Wood, it boasts an amazing drainage capability that was really put to test back in September, after 125mm (4.9 inches) of rain fell on the track in just couple of hours, yet two hours later they were running slick times on the surface in the barrier trials.
The top layer of the track is a mixture of mainly organic Coco peat and fine sand. Coco peat and other organic mixes are used to improve the racing surfaces safety by moisture retention and enhancing the cushion effect of the track, making it more supportive and allowing for stability and less shifting in the sand, as the horse's hooves dig into the surface; this lessens the stress on tendons and joints which is crucial for minimizing musculoskeletal injuries in horses. Sure, badly boned horses with existing injuries can break down on the best of racing surfaces; even in the paddocks. However, the advantage of these state-of-the-art tracks is to minimize injuries, in particular to young horses to ensure the longevity in their racing career.
Steve Wood might have been the genius in the track and surface design; however, South African Deon Visser is the man that has overseen the bulk of the track building and maintenance. He has done an amazing job in setting up the racing complex from the ground up, and is the man responsible for the day to day running of the track.
Visser, at fifty-eight years of age brings to the Philippine Jockey Club a wealth of experience in thoroughbred racing. He was born into a family with deep roots in horse racing and breeding in South Africa. After running his own stable of over fifty horses at Clairwood in Durban, for a number of years, he ventured out into the rest of the world training for the huge China Horse Club conglomerate in Wuhan, China. Later he relocated to the Caribbean island of St Lucia, where he also had great success training for the same world-renowned racing group.
His intimate knowledge of horse racing and his years as a trainer working on sand-based racing surfaces makes him the perfect person to maintain the racing circuit in tip top order.
The Padre Garcia circuit with its perfectly sculptured sweeping turns contoured with a 5% camber, counteracts the horses centrifugal force when they are turning, resulting in better balance and less stress on the horse's musculoskeletal system. The banked curves help a horses natural stride in turning, thus it can in fact limit lameness. Also, well designed cambered bends ensure a level playing field so that horses running on both the inside and the outside of the track have a fair chance; rather then just favoring inside runners; leading to more competitive racing.
How often have we seen just that since the opening of the new track; horses working hard in the run from wide draws, coming home strongly wide out late to score. This was evident again on Wednesday nights racecard when Kalends (No Nay Never USA) (7), Domsat Seven (Oh Oh Seven Aus) (8) and Beyond Compare (Art Moderne USA) (11), all scored impressively off wide runs. To balance that, Title Holder (He's Had Enough USA), Thy Will Be Done (Takas Phi), Golden Petita (Safe In The USA) and Winter On Fire (Sidestep Aus) all won off the front and nearer to the rails.
In a great testament to Deon Visser's good work, the racing surface has not varied from day one, with no bias apparent on the inside or outside of the track.
In short, it's riding as the club's motto suggests "Fairness to All."
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