by Michael Burns

Kurbat powered to a 10 ¾-length romp in the $180,723 Clasico St. Leger-Cristal (Chi-G1), the second leg of the Chilean national Triple Crown and the final Group 1 event of the year for three-year-olds on dirt, on Saturday at Hipodromo Chile in Santiago.

The race was the final leg of the Hipodromo del Chile Triple Crown which had different winners for each of the three races—Comparito won the Dos Mil Guineas (Chi-G1), Paso al Frente prevailed in the Gran Criterium Mauricio Serrano Palma (Chi-G1), and Kurbat won the St. Leger.

Luis Torres rated Kurbat in third behind a swift early pace set by favorite Real Merchant and Anarko. Kurbat unleashed a strong move in the middle of the racetrack to win comfortably.

Runner-up Anarko was 4 ¼ lengths clear of third-place finisherPaso Al Frente. Three-year-old filly Laguna Plateada advanced from eighth to gain fourth at the wire by a nose over tiring Real Merchant who faded to fifth in the 13-horse field.

Trained by Jose Tomas Allende for owner George Strawbridge’s Augustin Stables, Kurbat covered 2,200 meters (10.93 furlongs) on the dirt in 2:16.85 to earn his first stakes victory and third win overall in 13 starts.

Kurbat entered off a fourth-place finish to Paloma Infiel in the Clasico El Ensayo-Chilean Derby (Chi-G1) on November 1, the first leg of the national Triple Crown series. Kurbat previously finished third to Paso Al Frente in the Gran Criterium-Mauricio Serrano Palma on October 6.

Bred by Alberto Allende Urrutia’s Haras Santa Amelia, Kurbat is a three-year-old colt by Mon Pote Le Gitan. He is out of the Nureyev Dancer mare Maria Estela.

Michael Burns is a South America-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent