Desert Voice and Cardo Castilla, a battle of experience in the Montevideo

The two colts trained by Juan Saldivia will face off against a representative of Colorado del Monte who shone in a brilliant debut

Desert Voice enters the race after finishing second in the Clásico Santiago Luro / JUAN I. BOZZELLO

The title of the season's best 2-year-old on the dirt will be at stake this Friday in the Gran Premio Montevideo (G1-1500 m) at the Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo, featuring several strong contenders.

It could be a special day for Juan Saldivia. In the Atucha, he will be represented by the two main candidates, Personal Filly (Dabster) and Live Your Life (Dabster), and among the colts, the trainer also arrives with two enviable hands to play.

On one side, Desert Voice (Dabster) has plenty of reasons to aim for victory. He impressed in his debut, and although he was defeated later, the overall impression remained interesting. He finished second, 1 1/2 lengths behind the now-absent The Great Terms (The Great Day), in the Clásico Pedro E. y Manuel A. Crespo (G3) over a heavy track. Weighing nearly 500 kilos, the altered footing did not seem to suit him well, and a significant improvement is expected on normal ground.

Additionally, Saldivia has high hopes for Cardo Castilla (Strategos), who finished second to the future G2 winner Muy Macho Win (Gershwin) —another notable absentee— upon his debut on the Palermo dirt. He then switched to the San Isidro turf to break his maiden with ease before adding the Clásico Eliseo Ramírez (G2) by a dominant 9 lengths.

Both of his victories came over Sambushido (Pneumatic), a runner for Nicolás Martín Ferro. That trainer will now send out Colorado del Monte (Strategos), who secured a perfect debut under the same conditions he faces now, defeating Paulo Sil (Treasure Beach) by 1 1/2 lengths. The latter is also confirmed for the Montevideo.

The other winner in the field is Thomas Shelby (Uncle Chuck), who, in his fourth start, delivered on his previous promise with a 2 1/2-length victory over Niño Mático (Pneumatic), albeit over 1,200 meters.

The aforementioned Paulo Sil and Emotion Rate (Emotion Orpen) venture in as maidens. Their boldness is matched by Blue Star (Panegírico), who, barring a superstar performance, faces a steep challenge starting his official campaign here after failing to win in two non-sanctioned starts in Río Cuarto, Córdoba.