Firmamento Touches the Sky with Sarawak Rim in the Breeders’ Cup
- Diego Mitagstein
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
For the first time in its storied history, Juan Carlos Bagó’s Stud-Haras Firmamento will take part in the Breeders’ Cup. The homebred daughter of Remote, Sarawak Rim, will contest the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff wearing the colors of JCB Stables, in partnership with Stud Los Melli
By Diego H. Mitagstein (Special Correspondent for Turf Diario at Del Mar, California, USA)
DEL MAR, California – There are moments that define the history of a breeding operation—before and after. For Stud-Haras Firmamento, that moment arrives this Saturday, when Sarawak Rim steps into the starting gate for the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar, carrying the farm’s traditional blue-and-white silks onto the world’s biggest stage for the very first time.
The daughter of Remote, bred and raised on the rolling fields of Juan Carlos Bagó’s famed establishment, will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by Ignacio Correas IV, completing a story woven from hard work, pedigree, and dreams fulfilled. Partnering with Stud Los Melli, her original owners, Firmamento acquired a share in the filly after her victory in the GI Gran Premio Criadores at Palermo on May 1 earned her a berth in the Distaff.
“Being here is like touching the sky with our hands,” said a visibly moved Ezequiel Valle, part of the Firmamento team on site in California. “It’s a dream come true, the result of years of work by Juan Carlos and an enormous investment. To be here with a filly we bred, thanks to the generosity of her original owners, is simply incredible.”
The road to Del Mar was as unexpected as it was inspiring. “Remote is a stallion we bought for his outstanding pedigree—he’s a brother to Kingman. We ended up selling the filly, but we always followed her career closely. When she won the Criadores, her owners invited us to join the journey, and Juan Carlos didn’t hesitate for a second. Now we’re here, living this from the inside—it already feels like a huge victory,” Valle explained.
Since arriving in the U.S. in July, Sarawak Rim has been under Correas’s care, steadily building fitness and adapting beautifully to her new environment. “She’s worked really well and is coming into the race in great shape,” Valle said. “We know we’re giving up some advantage—she’s not fully acclimated, and she’s coming off a layoff to face the best mares in the country. But we believe she belongs.”
Expectation runs high, but gratitude runs deeper. “The goal is for her to run well, to show that she’s competitive. The most important thing is that we made it here, that we’re representing Firmamento, and that we can share this with Ignacio, the farm team, and with Juan Carlos, who’s following everything from Argentina with immense pride,” Valle added, his voice thick with emotion.
Regardless of the result, Sarawak Rim’s presence at Del Mar is already historic. For the first time, a filly carrying the colors of Haras Firmamento—registered as JCB Stables in the U.S.—will compete at the Breeders’ Cup, a milestone that once seemed distant but is now a reality. “Her future will depend on how she runs Saturday, since she’s entered for sale at Keeneland next week,” Valle noted. “But what she’s accomplished so far can never be taken away. She brought us here, and that’s worth gold.”
For Firmamento, a name synonymous with Argentine breeding excellence, Del Mar will be more than just a race—it will be the culmination of decades of dedication, proof that passion and persistence can carry dreams from the pasture to the pinnacle. Valle will be there at the rail, ready for the moment of a lifetime, while Juan Carlos Bagó follows from Buenos Aires, witnessing a chapter his farm will never forget.
