Amor de Contramano and Legalaized, Cut from the Same Cloth

Guided by trainer Juan Saldivia and jockey William Pereyra, they. secure their spot in the Gran Premio Montevideo (G1)

Amor a Contramano delivered on the promise of his impressive debut / JUAN I. BOZZELLO

Legalaized hits the mark right from the start / JUAN I. BOZZELLO

The Clásico Pedro y Manuel A. Crespo (G3) wasn’t the only race for 2-year-olds serving as a prep for the Gran Premio Montevideo (G1) on Monday at Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo.

Earlier in the afternoon, both divisions of the Premio Sabayón produced solid winners with a common touch, as both Amor a Contramano and Legalaized are trained by Juan Saldivia and were ridden by William Pereyra.

After finishing third on debut behind Día de Honor (Fortify) and Peter Tosh (Fortify), Amor a Contramano turned the tables on the latter. In their previous encounter, the Stud Las Canarias-owned gray had finished five lengths behind Stud RDI's colt, but this time, he showed significant improvement to defeat him by no less than six lengths, stopping the clock in an excellent 1:29.56 over a heavy dirt track.

Amor a Contramano is part of the highly promising first crop of Gouverneur Morris (Constitution), who stands at Haras La Pasión and has already sired three winners, including Roshita, an impressive heroine of the Clásico Saturnino J. Unzué (G2).

Bred in partnership by La Pasión and Ojos Claros, the colt is out of Anelada (Stormy Atlantic), a half-sister to Anaerobio (Catcher In the Rye), Argentina’s Champion 3-Year-Old Colt of 2010 and a multiple group winner in Meydan, UAE, as well as Albanesi (Violence), a stakes winner.

Later in the day, in the second division, and after four scratches, Legalaized had no trouble dispatching his three remaining rivals, scoring by five lengths over Piñazo (John F Kennedy) to justify his heavy favoritism. However, his final time of 1:30.85 was over a second slower than that of Amor a Contramano.

The 490-kilogram bay is a homebred for Al Adiyaat, the racing operation of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, and is by Dabster (Curlin), who continues to shine with his juveniles. On the dam’s side, his mother Autografiada (Giant’s Causeway) is a half-sister to G1 winner La Severa and has also produced the stakes-winning Causeway Girl (Dabster) and the well-regarded Auto Bahn (Asiatic Boy), runner-up to Japan’s Forever Young (Real Steel) in the 2024 UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan.