by Michael Burns

Group 3 winner Consul Romano stamped himself as a leading Chilean stayer on dirt with a victory in the $99,736 Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile (Chi-G1), the nation's most important race for three-year-olds and older on the dirt, on Saturday in Santiago.

Benefiting from a ground-saving trip under Fernando Diaz, Consul Romano raced in sixth early before unleashing a late run from the inside to prevail by a head over runner-up Paris de Troya.

Favorite Kurbat, Chile’s champion three-year-old male of 2007, and Group 1 winner Paso Al Frente finished twelfth and seventh, respectively, in the 14-horse field.

Diaz earned his second straight win in the Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile and third victory overall in the race.

Consul Romano, a Southern Hemisphere five-year-old Indian Lodge horse, picked up his ninth career victory and first Group 1 win in 21 starts. Trained by Juan Pablo Baeza, Consul Romano completed 2,200 meters (10.93 furlongs) in 2:18.27 to tally his first win of the year.

Campaigned by Stud Huelen, Consul Romano was a Group 3 winner at two and finished second twice as a three-year-old in Chilean classic races, including the 2005 St. Leger Cristal (Chi-G1).
 
Bred by Haras Mantacilla, Consul Romano is out of the Roy mare Cassia Nuova.

Michael Burns is a South America-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent