Drive Joy, Gardel Pass and Amor de Contramano seek the comeback trail

Three of the most outstanding colts of the last season are working on their return to competition after different injuries sidelined them during the most critical stage of 2025

By Diego H. Mitagstein

When the 2025 season seemed to be finding its leading figures among the colts, a series of injuries sidelined several of the names competing for the title of the best.

After winning the Clásico Miguel Cané (G2), Amor de Contramano (Gouverneur Morris) fractured a sesamoid while being prepared to run in the Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos (G1). With the grey absent, Gardel Pass(Distinctiv Passion) defeated Drive Joy (Fortify) in the first leg of the Triple Crown, but that race took a heavy toll on both.

The former ended up with a strain in the suspensory ligament of his right foreleg, just behind the knee, and was treated and sent to the field; meanwhile, his runner-up suffered a fissure in the third carpal of his right knee and also had to undergo mandatory rest.

Well, several months have passed since that string of bad news, and all three are now in different stages of the comeback trail.

Amor de Contramano underwent surgery and is in full rehabilitation at Haras Las Canarias. His trainer, Juan Saldivia, says: "He is walking a lot on the walker and even doing a bit of trotting already. He is responding well to the little he is doing, and we have high expectations of being able to recover him."

At Firmamento, for its part, Drive Joy is already showing more concrete signs. The words of Ezequiel Valle perfectly illustrate his current status: "He is very well, back at the stable for a few weeks now and already has a couple of breezes under his belt. He is getting fit, and we don't have a race on the horizon for him yet. There are no traces of the injury, and that is another positive detail to keep us hopeful."

The news regarding Gardel Pass is also favorable, as he has been back in his stall at the stable of Walter Suárez and María F. Alvarez in Palermo for a few weeks.

Walter says: "The problem was minimal, and we decided to heal it and give him a rest. He spent about two months in the field, he was monitored there, and we brought him back. He is sound, being checked week by week, and is training normally. He is already doing long gallops and now we have to get him into condition to race again. It’s still a little while away, but I think he could reappear by April."

Gardel Pass is owned by Alfredo Camogli and his Haras El Alfalfar, and the breeder is also enthusiastic: "The truth is he’s doing phenomenal. Perhaps I exaggerated a bit by taking him to the field, because he could have easily stayed at the stable, but well, the important thing is that he’s back and doing well. Hopefully, there will be a 1400-meter race for him to return in, that would be ideal, but if not, we’ll have to aim for the mile, where he already won the Polla."

Amor de Contramano, Drive Joy, and Gardel Pass, three of the colts who were benchmarks last season, are doing their homework with an eye on their return and getting back into the headlines. They have already shown they have plenty of quality; now they must have health as an ally to think about more great triumphs.