Field Report: Isa Bell Romps in Philracom-PCSO Triple Crown Leg 1 — A 5-Year Comeback After COVID and the Closure of Two Old Tracks
Bell Racing's unbeaten filly Isa Bell took the Philracom-PCSO Triple Crown Leg 1 (1,650m) by 6.5 lengths and shaved 1.2 seconds off the 3-year-old track record. What matters more than the win itself is the structure behind it: after Heneral Kalentong's 2020 sweep, COVID and the consecutive closures of Santa Ana and San Lazaro made the three-track Triple Crown system itself impossible to run. The opening of the new Padre Garcia Racetrack in November 2025 finally restarted the series after a 5-year gap. Read alongside the U.S. and Japanese classic routes, the Philippine Triple Crown is less a "miniature copy" than a working version of the same template.