Alinma Bank Aspire captained by Jojo de Silva is determined to improve its ranking after it clinched its third Team of the Week honors during the 12th session in the Interbank Tenpin Bowlers of Riyadh (ITBR) league at the InterContinental Hotel Bowling Center here.
Aspire demolished SABB-SAMA 541-90 in a grueling match to leapfrog two places to second in the team standings. The quartet of team captain Jojo de Silva, Gelo Train, last session’s Bowler of the Week Jerry Barce and Willie Bondoc produced exceptional four-game series of 862, 813, 780 and 759.
They were supported by Ranier Torres and Abdulrahman Ahmed who rolled 362 and 325.
Aspire was the first team to deliver a perfect 520 win points with additional 21 bonus points when they exceeded the 1,000 points output during the second game.
SABB-SAMA team captain Teody Zulaybar failed to find the right combination though his team matched the level of its opponent in three games and be rewarded with 90 bonus points. Jun Bolocboloc and Bernie Torres tallied 735 and 711. Dawod Sereno, Freddie Solomon, David Smart, Jun Macarandan and Clem Guelas fired 387, 359, 356, 353 and 321 while Remy Generales had 189.
SAIB skipper Dong Calub produced a superb performance to shoot 879 (201, 222, 207 and 245) and become the Bowler of the Week. SAIB, bye team in action, was the second highest scorer of the week on 390. Dong was supported by Agie Dazo and Edwin Fontiveros who rolled 778 and 748 while Boy Rogel, Ariel Diaz had 529 and 510 and Joey Salem and Eddison Austria 173 and 149.
Meantime, PNB Unified continued to dominate the leaderboard blanking Alinma Bank Tefa’al 370-0. The quartet of Ronald Cruz, Sonny Alviso, James Frizzle and Tenz Taeza fired 862, 727, 716 and 654. Koko Torres (755), Soc Mejia (713), captain Bobby Ting (712), Dario Magundayao (555) and Zohair Oqilan (520) were the scorers at Tefa’al.
BSF downed SABB Advance 210-80. Edwin Timango fired 834 at the helm of BSF with Yusuf Fernandez on 666, while Ric Camara, Francis Guron, Danny Encinas, and Noel Morales rolled 532, 531, 521, and 504.
It was another disappointing week for SABB Advance with only 80 win points to show. Sam Alinsod was the lead scorer with 771 followed by Jaffer Al Kathiri (713), Arnold Jesena (703), Gerry Austria (675) and Ahmed Al Qarquosh (610).
The match between Saudi Hollandi Bank and BSF-CBG ended in a 2-2 draw. However, SHB secured the 30 bonus points in the 160-130 result. On top of SHB was John Warain with 767 followed by Val Baraquio (723), Gil Hembra (715), captain Greg Antonio (701) and Rodel Yap (625).
Abet Minosa, Guilbert Masias and Alfred Estrada led BSF-CBG with 749, 697 and 664. Art Bumatay rolled 474 while captain Ken Hechanova and Ricky Domingues had 331 and 314. Rey Abuloc made 171.
Sponsors for the weekly and monthly prizes include Sky Freight Forwarders through GM Emy De Guzman and Jimmy Hugo, Central Region manager, and Alinma Bank through Abdulmohsen Al Mulhem, assistant GM, Retail Banking Group.
Standings (Week 12): 1. PNB Unified 3,081 points 2. Alinma Aspire 2,942 3. SABB-SAMA 2,671 4. SHB 2,573 5. SABB Advance 2,468 6. BSF 1,942 7. SAIB 1,940 8. BSF-CBG 1,500 9. Alinma Tefa’al 1,310 10. Unified Team 0
Alinma Bank scores Team of the Week treble
Alinma Bank scores Team of the Week treble
Lovesick Blues looking for better showing in Riyadh Dirt Sprint
- Having finished sixth in Breeders’ Cup, the sprinter goes again for trainer Librado Barocio
RIYADH: Mia Familia Racing Stable’s hard-knocking American sprinter Lovesick Blues (US) will bid to atone for a luckless Breeders’ Cup run in Saturday’s group two $2-million Riyadh Dirt Sprint Presented by Saudi National Bank.
Trainer Librado Barocio’s grey son of Grazen is part of a formidable US trio for the race that includes group two Santa Anita Sprint Championship winner Imagination (US) and group three Elite Power Stakes winner Just Beat the Odds (US).
The nine-time winner from 43 starts was last seen finishing sixth in the group one Breeders’ Cup Sprint after a tough trip.
“After the Breeders’ Cup I was always dreaming of coming to places like Saudi Arabia and Dubai,” Barocio said.
“He got a really bad trip in the Breeders’ Cup. He got squeezed and was left like 10 lengths behind, but then he started really closing. Unfortunately, then he couldn’t find room.
“He had to keep going inside and outside of horses down the stretch and in the end gets beat by about six lengths for the whole thing. He came back after the race and he was mad.
“After the Breeders’ Cup I said, ‘you know what, let’s focus on the big races and see what he can do,’ and that’s what we’re doing. He’s got an attitude, which I like, and he has his quirks. You just have to know him and I know he’s doing great.”
Lovesick Blues continued his preparation with a proper leg-stretcher around the King Abdulaziz Racecourse dirt track on Sunday morning with exercise rider Danny Ramsey in the saddle.
“I’m excited and was happy with that,” Barocio said.
“I like to give him a little open gallop for a couple furlongs to give him a feel for the track and let his muscles get loose. I like the way he did that and I like that he was on his toes coming off the track. He’s something else. All signs point to a great day, hopefully, so far.”
Climbing his way up gradually from the claiming ranks, though the allowance conditions, and ultimately becoming an earner of $830,000, it now seems that Lovesick Blues is at his peak at age 8.
“He’s ready to go,” Barocio said. “I won’t do much more with him. He will have a couple of easy days and jog on the training track, then come to the main track another day, then jog on the small track the day before the race.
“Before coming here, he had some really good works and I think I have him ready. Danny said he’s really liking the track, so all we can do is pray at this point and keep dreaming.”
