With Two G1 Winners in the Gate, Handicap Atlas Takes Center Stage Today Over 2500 Meters

Special Dubai and Rammel—both Group 1 winners—are among the six contenders set to line up for the Handicap Atlas, joined by Mister Coquette, Valle Barún, Demostrame, and Madero Al Compás in what shapes up as a competitive staying test

Nearing Age Nine, Special Dubai Eyes Yet Another Comeback / JUAN I. BOZZELLO

A marathon card awaits racing fans this Monday at Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo, blending depth and quality, with the spotlight on the Handicap Atlas, scheduled to go off around 7:00 p.m. over a grueling 2500 meters on the dirt.

Open to 4-year-olds and up, the race has drawn a compact but intriguing field of six runners. Standing out on past performances is Special Dubai (E Dubai), who carries topweight of 59 kilos and returns from a 259-day layoff as he nears the age of nine. Winner of the G1 Gran Premio General San Martín in 2021 and more recently of the G3 Gran Premio Vicente Dupuy earlier this year, the gray was last seen finishing second, five lengths behind Endor Rye(Endorsement) in the Handicap Dorian Gray.

Trained by Roberto Andrés Pellegatta and partnered by Maximiliano Aserito—the same team behind Need You Tonight (Hat Ninja), recent winner of the G1 Gran Premio República Argentina—Special Dubai faces a couple of solid challengers on his comeback.

Among them is Mister Coquette (Mastercraftsman, 55 kg), who scored in March's Clásico Regimiento de Granaderos a Caballo (L) and exits a respectable fifth-place finish in the G3 Clásico Porteño, where he was beaten just over seven lengths by Brazil’s Out of the Blue (Drosselmeyer), both efforts coming on turf.

Valle Barún (Vástago Salvaje, 51.5 kg) also merits respect, returning off a light impost after finishing second to Look Portal (Portal del Alto) in the Handicap Arturo A.

Last year's winner of this very race, Demostrame (Endorsement, 57 kg) will look to defend his title. A strong closer, he returned from a break with a subpar effort but may improve now that the rust is shaken off.

Also in the lineup is Rammel (Fortify), a past winner of the G1 Gran Premio Montevideo, who stretches out in search of a spark, while the field is completed by Madero Al Compás (Daddy Long Legs, 54 kg), who wrapped up his last campaign with a third in the Clásico AP Candy at La Plata.