Doña Vainilla Steps Up, Captures the Acebal, and Now Dreams of the Copa de Plata Showdown
- Turf Diario
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
The San Benito homebred took a major step forward from her seventh-place finish in the Alvear, defeating Carmensitain the season’s final Grade I for fillies
As the turf fillies’ division drew to a close at San Isidro, a new name emerged in style. Doña Vainilla erased the memory of her disappointing effort in the G2 Clásico Federico de Alvear with a courageous and convincing performance in Saturday’s G1 Gran Premio Enrique Acebal, stamping herself as one of the season’s rising stars.
Bred and raced by Haras San Benito, the daughter of Il Campione handled a large and competitive field with maturity beyond her years. She broke alertly, settled comfortably off the early leaders, and waited for the long stretch run to unleash her decisive move—an approach perfectly suited to the patient tactics of trainer Carlos D. Etchechoury.
Rosa Eterna (Long Island Sound) set the pace with B (Puerto Real) in close pursuit, while Doña Vainilla traveled quietly behind them. After measured early fractions of :25.90, :50.52, and 1:14.36, the field turned for home, and jockey Juan Cruz Enrique found a seam for his filly to quicken through. Responding instantly, she surged to the lead early in the stretch and opened a clear advantage that proved insurmountable.
Carmensita (Treasure Beach) angled out for her run and closed strongly, but could only narrow the gap to three-quarters of a length at the wire, with Invocación (Treasure Beach) a neck away in third. The final time for the 2000 meters over firm ground was 2:01.51. Great Fight (Equal Stripes), the favorite and recent Alvear winner, flattened out late and finished fourth, two lengths behind the winner.
For San Benito, Doña Vainilla represents the continuation of a remarkable bloodline built around the farm’s cornerstone mare Doña Polenta (Candy Stripes), a brilliant sprinter who became the foundation of one of Argentina’s most successful families. From her descend Don Empeño (Exchange Rate), Doña Ley (Orpen), Doña Letra (Val Royal), Don Letal(Orpen), Doña Lagertha (Seahenge), and now, Doña Vainilla—a worthy heir to that legacy.
With the Acebal triumph under her belt, Doña Vainilla now looks ahead to an even greater challenge: facing Charm(Strategos) and the older mares in December’s prestigious G1 Gran Premio Copa de Plata, where she will seek to further solidify her place among the elite.
