Talented Hit Enjoyed a Promising Return and Captured the Japón
- Turf Diario
- 19 jul
- 2 min de lectura
After a long absence, the colt racing for Stud Haras El Angel de Venecia returned with a dominant victory on the Palermo turf
Following a 216-day layoff, Talented Hit made a highly promising return, stealing the spotlight this Saturday at the Hipódromo de Palermo by capturing the Clásico Japón (L), the featured event of a long and entertaining program, contested over 1400 meters on a firm turf course.
The colt racing for Stud-Haras El Angel de Venecia had last been seen finishing tenth in the Gran Premio Joaquín S. de Anchorena (G1). Now, facing a less demanding task, he generated excitement once again, much like he did just under a year ago when he burst onto the miler division with a victory in the Clásico Reconquista (L) and a third-place finish in the Clásico Ecuador (G2).
With Eduardo Ortega Pavón in the irons, the son of Hit It a Bomb unhurriedly bided his time at the back of the pack, turning for home in last place and looking slightly uncomfortable. At the other end, Calladito (Qué Vida Buena) dictated the pace with a solid rhythm, posting fractions of 24s51/100 and 47s92/100.
Once in the stretch, the Paraguayan jockey began working on the winner early on. The colt gained momentum with every stride and easily swept past the leader at the 150-meter mark, drawing clear from there to cross the finish line with a 1 1/2-length advantage.
A courageous Calladito held onto the runner-up spot, fending off the late surge of Envidioso Frank (Gidu) by a head, while Kopke (Hi Happy) finished a disappointing fourth, another 4 lengths back. It went even worse for the favorite Río New (Hurricane Cat), who could only manage a fifth-place finish, 6 1/2 lengths behind the winner. The final time was registered at 1m23s75/100.
Bred by Haras Firmamento and trained by Carlos D. Etchechoury, Talented Hit celebrated his fifth victory from 10 career starts, proving that, now fully recovered, he is ready to challenge the elite in the middle-distance division once again.
The dark bay is the third foal out of the talented racemare Talented Girl (Speightstown), who during her racing career finished second in the Clásico Estrellas Junior Sprint (L) and fourth in the Clásico Propietarios (L) before being acquired by Juan Carlos Bagó from Haras Futuro, the silks she originally defended on the track.
