NEWS
Life of Victory set for Estrellas Classic
Posted: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 4:12 PM
by Michael Burns
Carlos Pellegrini (Arg-G1) winner and Argentina’s 2008 Horse of the Year Life of Victory will take his third shot at winning the $253,426 Gran Premio Estrellas Classic - Copa Escribano Hernan Ceriani Cernadas (Arg-G1) when he meets 11 challengers on Saturday at Hipodromo San Isidro.
The Estrellas Classic is the feature race of the 19th edition of the Fundacion Equina Argentina’s Carreras de las Estrellas, Argentina's version of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
A six-year-old Incurable Optimist horse, Life of Victory is winless in two starts since his half-length win in South America’s signature event, the Carlos Pellegrini, in December. He finished sixth in the 2007 Estrellas Classic on the turf at San Isidro and second in the 2008 renewal of the 2,000-meter (9.94-furlong) race on the dirt at Palermo.
Life of Victory won the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini at San Isidro racecourse on December 13 and has ten wins in 41 starts for owners Juan Garat and Santiago Martinez de Hoz. He enters the Estrellas Classic off a runner-up finish, beaten by a head, in the Gran Premio 25 de Mayo (Arg-G1) at San Isidro on May 23.
Peruvian jockey Edwin Talaverano, a nine-time leading rider in his native country and a three-time winner of the Carlos Pellegrini, has the assignment on Life of Victory, who was Argentina’s 2008 champion stayer and champion older horse.
Life of Victory will break from post six and will bid for his third career Group 1 victory in the 2,000-meter (9.94-furlong) turf race.
Other leading contenders include Calidoscopio, winner of the Gran Premio Republica Argentina (Arg-G1) in May, and classic winner City Banker, fifth to stablemate Life of Victory in the Carlos Pellegrini.
Group 1 winner City Banker enters off a runner-up finish in the Clasico Capital (Arg-G2) and will race as a coupled entry with Life of Victory as they did in the Pellegrini.
Group 2 winner and Polla de Potrancas (Arg-G1) (Argentine One Thousand Guineas) runner-up Dando Amor, a Thunder Gulch filly, will attempt to become the first female winner of the Estrellas Classic as the lone female starter in the 12-horse field.
The Carreras de las Estrellas will offer approximately $881,672 in combined purses, a 51% increase comparedwith last year, during its six-race program of Group 1 races.
The other five races on the card are the 1,600-meter (7.95-furlong) Estrellas Juvenile (Arg-G1) and Estrellas Juvenile Fillies (Arg-G1), the 2,000-meter Estrellas Distaff (Arg-G1), the 1,000-meter (4.97-furlong) Estrellas Sprint (Arg-G1), and the newly established Estrellas Mile (Arg-G1) at 1,600 meters.
Michael Burns is a South America-based THOROUGHBRED TIMES correspondent
The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:
1. Calidoscopio (Luhuk), Pablo Falero, 132, Guillermo Frenkel Santillan;
2. Star in You (Mutakddim), Jose Ricardo Mendez, 132, Facundo Bunge Frers;
3. City Banker (Lode), Adrian Gianetti, 126, Carlos Daniel Etchechoury;
4. Gran Diogenes (Incurable Optimist), Juan Pablo Lagos, 126, Enrique Martin Ferro;
5. Great Champion (Luhuk), Mario Leyes, 126, Roxana San Millan;
6. Life of Victory (Incurable Optimist), Edwin Talaverano, 132, Carlos Daniel Etchechoury;
7. Dando Amor (Thunder Gulch), Horacio Karamanos, 120, Alfredo Gaitan Dassie;
8. Holden (Lode), Lucrecia Carbajal,126, Pablo Saharian;
9. Carry Gulch (Thunder Gulch), Jorge Ricardo, 126, Juan Carlos Etchechoury Jr;
10. Mestre (Easing Along), Juan Carlos Noriega, 126, Alfredo Gaitan Dassie;
11. Mi Amiguito (Indygo Shiner), Julio Cesar Mendez, 126, Ernesto Romero; and
12. Lingote de Oro (Orpen), Damian Ramella, 126, Ernesto Romero.
