Stay in the Glory, a broodmare chasing two Grade 1 dreams on Gran Premio Nacional afternoon

Speedmaster will contest the Gran Premio Palermo, while his full brother Stay Tune stands among the leading contenders for the Nacional. The mare’s only two foals of racing age will aim to headline an extraordinary afternoon,echoing past precedents in Brazil and South Africa where siblings won two Grade 1 races on the same day

BY DIEGO H. MITAGSTEIN

Sometimes 80 minutes are enough to write a very special page in history. That is the exact span separating Saturday’s post times for the Gran Premio Palermo (G1) and the Gran Premio Nacional (G1), two of the three top-level races featured on the marquee card at Hipódromo Palermo. And one thread will tie them together: Speedmaster and Stay Tune are full brothers, sired by Fortify out of Stay in the Glory, a broodmare who, from her quiet pastures at Haras Vacación, will have plenty of reason to be a silent protagonist of the afternoon.

The coincidence is even more striking considering they are the only two foals of racing age produced by the daughter of Roman Ruler. Both will step into the starting gate in Grade 1 company with legitimate chances to play a major role—hardly an everyday occurrence.

First onto the stage will be Speedmaster, born in 2022, who tackles the 1,600 meters of the Gran Premio Palermo (G1) at 5:00 p.m. Carrying the silks of Caballeriza Victoria, conditioned by Guillermo Frenkel Santillán, and partnered with Juan Cruz Villagra, the bay arrives backed by five victories, most recently capturing the Handicap Copa Regimiento de Infantería 1 de Patricios. He faces rivals of the caliber of Drive Joy (Fortify), Zaatar(Hurricane Cat), and Linguado (Cosmic Trigger), yet his current form suggests he is well equipped to contend.

At 6:20 p.m., the spotlight shifts to Stay Tune, one crop younger—foaled in 2023—and already established as one of the leading lights of his generation. Representing Las Monjitas, he enters fresh off a triumph in the Gran Premio Jockey Club (G1) at San Isidro and now looks to add to his resume over the 2,500 meters of the Nacional.

With Francisco Leandro Gonçalves aboard for trainer Carlos Daniel Etchechoury, Stay Tune confronts a starkly different test from his brother: not only is he stretching out to an untried distance, but he will also race over the Palermo dirt for the first time after spending his entire campaign on turf. Cool Bro (Pneumatic), Hi Pocho (Hi Happy), and Cahuel Win (Gershwin) headline his main adversaries.

Two brothers, two separate connections, two distances, and one shared origin. Genetics—that ever-present driving force of thoroughbred racing—will deliver one of its most compelling chapters.

Stay in the Glory (Roman Ruler) was no ordinary racehorse herself. Out of Stay Close (Southern Halo), she won five races, including the Handicap Gioconda, finished second in the Handicap Santa María de Araras, third in the Handicap Evidencia, and fourth in the Clásico Carlos Tomkinson (G2). Furthermore, she is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Stay Calm (Dynamix) and stakes-placed Say You (Hurricane Cat).

Her broodmare career opened with Speedmaster and continued with Stay Tune. In 2025, she produced a third colt by Fortify, Secret Glory, who sadly died on May 4. The encouraging news is that her story in the breeding shed continues: Juan Cruz Alonso of Haras Vacación confirmed that Stay in the Glory is back in foal to Fortify, the very stallion responsible for her first two standouts.

There is far more depth behind this story, as the brothers’ maternal family is enjoying one of its finest spells, racking up successes across distances, racetracks, and generations.

The lineage traces back to Souris Grise (General), foaled in 1980 and a foundational matron of Argentine breeding,from whom descend both the branch of Sostenida (Political Ambition), second dam of Stay in the Glory, and other lines that found continuity and remarkable productivity, particularly at Haras Tres Jotas.

Sostenida (Political Ambition), runner-up in the Clásico Juan Shaw (G2), represents the direct link to Vacación. On another branch of that same family appears Marlotte (El Corredor), a broodmare who has become a veritable factory of stakes performers.

She has produced Grade 1 winner Madonna Benois (Angiolo); Grade 2 winner Mery Laurent (Angiolo); Qué Tarde Gris (Il Campione), who captured the Gran Premio Estrellas Mile (G1) earlier this year; fellow group winner El Resero con Capa (Angiolo); and Autorretrato (Angiolo), winner of both the Polla de Potrillos (G3) at La Plata and the Clásico Pedro Chapar (G3) this season.

It would be hard to find a clearer showcase of sustained family vitality—and the list does not end there. Es Aristocrático (Angiolo), another top sprinter of recent seasons, hails from the same female line, as do prominent sire Angiolo (Grand Reward) and Cacal Island (Lizard Island), who recently scored in the Especial Lordling at La Plata.

Inevitably, Saturday’s convergence raises another question: how often have two foals out of the same dam won two Grade 1 races on a single card?

While an extraordinary feat, well-documented international precedents do exist—one of them remarkably recent.

On June 14, 2026, during the major Gran Premio Brasil (G1) program at Hipódromo da Gávea in Rio de Janeiro,full siblings Plano B and On The End, by Emcee out of Dead End (Wild Event), recorded back-to-back Grade 1 victories. First, Plano B captured the Gran Premio Jockey Club Brasileiro for 2-year-olds; just one race later, his older sister On The End defeated the males in the Gran Premio Presidente da República—two top-level triumphs on the same track separated by mere minutes.

History offers another notable precedent in South Africa. On May 6, 2017, at Turffontein, Mustaaqeem and Rafeef,full brothers by Redoute's Choice out of National Colour, won the South African Nursery (G1) and the Computaform Sprint (G1), respectively—same dam, same sire, and two Grade 1 coronations on a single afternoon.

In Argentina, by contrast, there is no confirmed precedent of two foals out of the same broodmare winning separate Grade 1 events on the same card. That does not mean it has never occurred; asserting so categorically would require an exhaustive review of the archives of major domestic meetings.

Even so, there is no need to chase records to grasp the magnitude of what lies ahead. Stay in the Glory has already accomplished something rare: having her first two foals line up in Grade 1 contests on the same program, with one already a winner at the highest level.

On Saturday, as Palermo celebrates another grand festival centered around the Nacional, Speedmaster and Stay Tunewill each have individual challenges to solve. Regardless of the outcome, however, they share a destiny set in motion long before either ever set foot on a racetrack.

And should both find the winner’s circle, the name Stay in the Glory would take on a truly literal meaning.