The spectacular return of Particulado, a performance that invites dreams of bigger things ahead

After more than a year on the sidelines due to injury, the son of Mask returned with an emphatic victory by several lengths at Palermo

Saturday’s card at Palermo featured several high-quality allowance races, but one in particular left almost everyone stunned. In the Premio Siempre En Mi Mente, contested over 1400 meters for 4-year-olds with two wins, the highly regarded Particulado returned to action after a 14-month layoff.

And the son of Mask more than lived up to expectations, scoring in spectacular fashion and suggesting that his talent remains fully intact—good enough to imagine him soon measuring himself once again against the top horses in the middle-distance division.

With Juan Carlos Noriega aboard, and after recovering from a cannon bone fracture, the bay colt led from gate to wire, effortlessly drawing away from the 300-meter mark onward to cross the line six lengths clear of Bayer (Fortify) in an excellent 1:25.13 under the conditions.

Bred by Haras Jomar and racing for Stud Don Juan Ramona, Particulado is now trained by Ceferino Miguel Ojedaand had been sidelined since finishing fifth in the Clásico América (G2).

After winning his first two starts, Particulado rose to prominence in the 2024 Gran Premio Joaquín S. de Anchorena (G1), where he crossed the wire third behind El Que Sabe (Il Campione) and Nanabush (Il Campione) before being disqualified due to a treatment violation.

Now fully recovered and with the comeback race behind him, it is not difficult to imagine Particulado possessing the ability to go a very long way.

The card also included a pair of maiden races for older horses over 1000 meters. The males were first onto the track, where Pasatiempo (A Different Style) improved markedly on his debut fourth-place effort to defeat favorite Huracán de Areco (Il Campione) by two lengths in the Premio Sand Puce.

Later, under the lights, the fillies took center stage in the Premio Salad Green, where Bavarian Moon (Angiolo)delivered a perfect debut, defeating La Figurilla (Emotion Orpen) by three lengths in :56.99, significantly faster than the :57.82 posted earlier by Pasatiempo.

It was an excellent afternoon of racing at Palermo, with several names worth remembering for the future.