by Michael Burns

Star Plus earned a breakthrough group stakes victory and defeated familiar foe Secretario Plan in the $54,807 Gran Premio Internacional Joaquin S. De Anchorena (Arg-G1) on the undercard of Gran Premio Internacional Carlos Pellegrini (Arg-G1) on Saturday at San Isidro.

Under Pedro Robles, the four-year-old Alpha Plus colt finished strongest in the stretch to edge Argentina's top miler Secretario Plan by three-quarters of a length.

Global Hunter finished another nose back in third in the 16-horse field.

Star Plus earned his first group stakes tally after previously posting six runner-up finishes in Group 1 or Group 2 races. Trained by Juan Gregorio Vivas, Star Plus completed 1,600 meters (7.95 furlongs) in 1:32.49 to register his fourth win in 14 career starts.

Fourth in last year’s Anchorena, Star Plus entered off a runner-up finish to Secretario Plan in the Gran Premio San Isidro (Arg-G1) on October 7. He also finished second to eventual Pellegrini winner Latency in the Gran Premio General San Martin (Arg-G1) on August 20.

Bred by Claudio J. Valle, Star Plus is out of the Big Play mare Nannar.

Michael Burns is a South America-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent