El Despertar returned to winning ways with a front-running score in the Handicap Mariache

He completed a 1-2 for Il Campione, defeating Emergent by 1 1/2 lengths and snapping a drought of nearly a year

El Despertar dug in gamely on the front end / JUAN I. BOZZELLO

It took almost a year for El Despertar to find his way back to the winner’s circle. The Stud La Fábrica runner chose the right moment to do so on Sunday night, capturing the H. Mariache (1400m, fast dirt), the feature of an otherwise below-par program.

Now a well-seasoned 5-year-old, the son of Il Campione showed admirable courage, locking horns from the break with Basko Texano (Nashville Texan, 54), taking full control in the stretch and becoming untouchable inside the final 300 meters, when the favorite Emergent (Il Campione, 58) tried in vain to close the gap.

A proven campaigner already, with stakes victories in the Clásico Reconquista (L) and Clásico Ahmad, as well as the H. Sideral, El Despertar had found it tough to recapture his top form, alternating solid efforts with more forgettable ones.

This time, carrying a manageable 56 kilos, apprentice Martín Montoya wasted no time, and the dark bay delivered a performance that blended speed with grit. As noted, Emergent chased him home from 1 1/2 lengths, while Boyero Spring(Greenspring, 57) finished a distant third, eight lengths back. The final time was 1:36.63, with splits of :24.89, :47.77 and 1:12.16.

Trained by Conrado Linares and bred by Haras El Paraíso, El Despertar is out of the well-performed Sacsahuana(Sebi Halo), who has produced four other winners from six runners.

His female line, though not overly prolific, traces back to the American mare Miss Manila (Liloy), imported by Haras Las Dos Manos and later granddam of Miss Latinoamericana (Latency), winner of the Clásico Producción Nacional(L).

This marked El Despertar’s seventh career victory from 28 starts, pushing his earnings to just under 40 million pesos—a clear reflection of his consistency and generosity on the track, in a career that surely isn’t done delivering happy chapters.