There were no surprises as overwhelming favorite Sky Shot, which came in with a body weight of 476 kgs., took to the lead as the gates opened and never looked back to win the Sampaguita Stakes worth P1.2-million for owner Edward Vincent Diokno, trainer Ernesto Roxas and jockey Fernando "Dhunoy" Raquel last Sunday at the Philippine Racing Club in Naic, Cavite.
The Esguerra Farms-bred filly clocked 13'-24'-24'-23'-25' for a total of 1:51.6 over the 1800-meter journey, which seemed like a mere exercise for Sky Shot, except for a slight challenge with around 600-meters left coming from Shanghai Grey but it was obvious that jockey Fernando Raquel was still with tight reins.
At that point, when FM Raquel asked his mount for a run, the chestnut filly responded by blowing away the closest rivals and beating two-time Sampaguita Stakes winner Princess Eowyn by around 7 lengths. Third went to Cam From Behind and fourth to Shanghai Grey. The runners-up pocketed P450k, P250k and P100k for their connections, respectively.
