Mang Juaning's Ride.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Maria Congee S. Gomez

POSTE! The horse Catcheye minces his steps. He slows down and halts, with the horse trainer nowhere to be found. He's probably at the nearest carinderia, taking his snack, the groomboys say. Finally, the trainer shows up and gives Catcheye a pat.

It's a Wednesday morning, and the horses at the Philippine Racing Club (PRC) are in their respective stables. Seventy-nine-year-old Juanito "Juaning" Macaraig dashes back and forth like a youth in the guise of a senior. The tracks, the race horses and the people here are familiar to him. As onlookers mill about him, Juaning allows a faint smile. "They are my friends," he says.

That morning, Juaning showed up spic and span. The trainer's uniform he wore had no creases. His moccasins were well dusted, matched with dark brown trousers. A navy blue baseball cap protected him from the heat of the sun, and tightly held in his hand was a Nokia cellphone. "My life can be an engrossing chapter in a book," he says in Filipino. "The rise, dangerous falls and victories all rolled into one parallel the events of local horse racing history."

Rise and falls

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