The filly aims for Sarzana Pass’s throne, while the colt looks to confirm his Kemmis victory against The Great Cash, who got the better of him in San Isidro’s Congreve.
The juvenile division on dirt at Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo will take center stage this Saturday with a stellar racing program featuring the G2 Santiago Luro and G2 Saturnino J. Unzué, for colts and fillies, respectively. Stretching out to 1200 meters and rounding a turn for the first time, these races will test not only precocity but also stamina and adaptability.
Both events have drawn compact yet competitive fields, with six colts and four fillies looking to either reaffirm their credentials or stake their claim as leaders of their crop. Adding further incentive, each division offers a purse of 12,885,000 pesos, a relatively modest sum considering these are early-season juvenile stakes.
The fillies will kick off the stakes action at approximately 3:30 p.m. with the Unzué. Making her debut as the first runner by Gouverneur Morris (Constitution), Roshita was nothing short of dazzling in her unveiling, romping by 10 lengths in the Premio Celestial Filly under the same conditions she will encounter on Saturday. Trained by Carly Etchechoury for Stud Rubio B., she clocked an impressive 1:08.75 and appears poised to challenge Sarzana Pass (Distinctiv Passion) for the early supremacy in the division. A homebred for El Alfalfar, Sarzana Pass has shown significant progression—after a debut loss, she broke her maiden convincingly before stepping up to G2 company with a victory in the Clásico Carlos Casares over 1000 meters. If she handles the turn, she should be formidable over this added distance.
Flor de Laurel (Il Campione) also boasts an unbeaten record, though her debut win came in much tighter fashion. She now takes a step up in both trip and class. La Farce (Emmanuel), a recent maiden winner at La Plata, rounds out the field.
The Luro, meanwhile, will see a rematch between the two colts that have set the tone for the division thus far. On San Isidro’s turf, The Great Cash (The Great Day) remained unbeaten in the Listed Congreve, finishing ahead of Fantasioso Pass (Distinctiv Passion), who settled for third that day. However, when switching to Palermo’s dirt, Fantasioso Pass responded with an emphatic victory in the G3 Guillermo Kemmis. With The Great Cash now facing the uncertainty of a surface change and Fantasioso Pass showing marked improvement, the latter holds the edge heading into Saturday’s showdown.
Also in the field is Alado Frank (Gidu), who failed to fire in the Kemmis, but with trainer Diego Peña opting to press forward, connections clearly see reason to persist.
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