Gran Celestial defeated Doña Chila in a great head-to-head battle

The mare from Stud Tinta Roja took full advantage of the wide weight difference to achieve the best victory of her career in the Especial República de Panamá

Gran Celestial secured a long-awaited winner's circle photo / HLP

LA PLATA.— In an interesting head-to-head battle, Gran Celestial (52 kg) took full advantage of the wide weight allowance she received from the favorite Doña Chila (Peten Itza, 60 kg) to achieve the best victory of her career in the Especial República de Panamá (1,000m, normal dirt), the feature race of Thursday's card at the local racecourse.

Following an acceptable performance in the Clásico General Güemes (G3) at Palermo, the daughter of Il Mercatolooked solid, battling with her rival from the start, gaining the upper hand midway through the stretch, and pulling away 150 meters from the wire to ultimately defeat her by 2 lengths in the impressive time of 58s 51/100.

Finishing 1 1/2 lengths back, Maylena (Qué Vida Buena, 56 kg) was left with a sense of "what if," as she took the worst of the bumping at the start, dropping to last and being forced to make a comeback from there. Without that incident, the story might have been different.

Owned by Stud Tinta Roja and bred by Haras Avourneen, Gran Celestial is out of the mare Volkova (Easing Along). She now boasts 4 wins in just 15 starts, bringing her total earnings to 22,412,700 pesos. Norberto Baldaro was in charge of her preparation, while Iván Monasterolo picked up the mount at the track and did not let the opportunity slip away.