El Mau captured the Aniversario at La Punta

The son of Holy Boss made it look easy to once again put the colors of Stud La Nona on top in a major contest at the track

LA PUNTA, San Luis (Special for Turf Diario).— The San Juan-based silks of Stud La Nona did it again: they shone brightly on the track at La Punta. This time, it was all thanks to the honest El Mau, who on Sunday captured the 2026 edition of the Clásico Aniversario Hipódromo La Punta (L), contested over 1,600 meters on normal dirt.

The most successful connections in the history of the Gran Premio Vicente Dupuy (G3)—the most important race of the year here and the only graded stakes on the annual provincial calendar—now find in the son of Holy Boss and Implosión(Vision and Verse) an ideal representative to continue their tradition of crossing the wire first in major local events.

Already a winner on these grounds in the Gran Premio Jorge Laffué (L) and the Clásico Apertura Estrellas, he made it all look fairly simple, settling in fourth while Tapit Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) went out to dictate the terms as usual.

The race only took a turn down the home straight, where the winner advanced wide to sweep past the leader at the furlong pole, pulling away with complete authority from there on out. The finish photo later confirmed a 3 1/2-length victory over the game pacesetter, who held off Barolito (Stratham) by another 2 lengths for third.

Trained by Héctor Luis Flores, El Mau was guided by Isaías Stemberger, a rider who, in just two official rides, has already tasted black-type glory.

Bred by Haras El Mallín, this was the fourth victory for El Mau from 10 career starts, pushing his earnings past 29,000,000 pesos.

A half-brother to G1 winner Mateco (Borrego) and to the talented runner Amigo Intimo (Todo Un Amiguito), the dark bay could now be headed toward a third attempt in the Dupuy, a race in which he finished eighth in 2025 and eleventh this season. Third time's a charm?