Naimabad Upsets Favorite Despacito in Eduardo Jara Stakes
- Turf Diario
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
The Santa Inés mare, a half-sister to champions Nanda Dea, Nanabish, and Eliitas, got her most important victory, at San Isidro
Naimabad (53 kg) found the formula to stop Despacito (Sabayón, 64 kg) and defeated the heavy favorite in the Eduardo Jara Stakes (1100m, sloppy dirt), the feature race of a long program at San Isidro, preventing him from reaching his milestone 20th career victory.
The only mare in the compact field, she is a full sister to champion Nanabush and a half-sister to champion Nanda Dea(Fortify), all carrying the colors of Stud-Haras Santa Inés.
While the weight difference certainly played a role, the pupil of Enrique Martín Ferro also showed a clear affinity for the demanding track conditions. The bay filly seemed to glide over the surface, taking command early from the vulnerable pacesetter Sea (Daddy Long Legs, 53 kg) before drawing off with authority. In the stretch, she had no trouble repelling the late bid of the favorite, who finished second, beaten 3 1/2 lengths after another strong effort.
Another 1 1/2 lengths back, Viejo Cuchara (Il Campione, 54.5 kg) completed the trifecta, a neck ahead of Flying to the Sky (Señor Candy, 56.5 kg). The aforementioned Sea and Bingo Song (Alcindor, 57.5 kg), well behind, rounded out the field.
Naimabad stopped the clock in a sharp 1:03.55, following brisk fractions of :24.08 and :47.48, over a surface heavily affected by persistent rains that began Tuesday night.
Ridden by Martín Valle, Naimabad now owns a record of five wins from 17 starts—four of them on wet tracks—and had previously posted her best stakes result with a fourth-place finish in the Handicap Spiny. She is also a half-sister to Eliitas (Catcher In the Rye), a champion in Peru and multiple G1 winner there.
Out of the outstanding Nanga Parbat (Majestic Warrior), and backed by one of the cornerstone families of the Phipps program in the United States, Naimabad earned a significant victory—one that enhances her profile and points toward a valuable future in the breeding shed when her racing days come to an end.
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