Sir Winsalot romped to a widening 12-length triumph in the Gran Premio 25 de Mayo (Arg-I) May 25 at San Isido Racetrack in Buenos Aires, leaving nine rivals toiling in his wake including Argentina Horse of the Year Soy Carambolo.
Sir Winsalot, trained by Jose Luis Palacios, earned an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT) Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series. The Gran Premio 25 de Mayo is the first of four Breeders' Cup Challenge races to be run in South America this year.
With Brazilian jockey Altair Domingos aboard, Sir Winsalot tracked pacesetter Don't Worry from second and the two raced clear of the rest of the field by the three-eighths mark of the 1 1/2-mile race.
Sir Winsalot passed the fading front-runner in early stretch, then cruised clear when Domingos gave the cue. The 4-year-old son of United States grade II winner Lasting Approval rolled toward the finish line under a hand ride in a dominant victory.
Sir Winsalot covered 1 1/2 miles in 2:32.36 on a very soft turf course.
As the field swamped weakening Don't Worry, Soy Carambolo asserted himself for second, a short head in front of Sir Winsalot's stablemate Damaskino.
The winner entered the Gran Premio 25 de Mayo off a close second in the Gran Premio de Honor (Arg-I) April 2 at Palermo. Sir Winsalot took the Clasico Horatio Bustillo (Arg-III) at San Isidro in February in his first start of 2014.
"He is a different horse, one of the big ones, and makes everything easy, either to train or at the time of the competition," Domingos told Turf Diario. "We had confidence before the race, and he responded as expected. I hope their owners make the decision to travel to the United States, because they have a horse to dream big."
Sir Winsalot is campaigned by Herman Stambuk of Stud Mirko. The owner was delighted with the win and indicated a trip to the United States later this year for the Breeders' Cup is a possibility.
"One always dreams finding a horse as him, and luckily we can now enjoy it," he said. "We preferred to not even talk about the possibility of traveling to the United States before the race; but now, yes, it will be time to do it."
Sir Winsalot earned his first group I win and improved his record to 5-1-0 record from seven career starts. He was bred in Argentina by Cesar Pasarotti out of the Rainbow Corner mare Condicionada, who is a half sister to Argentina champions Little Jim and Lord Jim.
In addition to the Gran Premio 25 de Mayo, three new Breeders' Cup Challenge races will be run in South America in 2014: the Gran Premio de Brasil (Brz-I) June 8 at the Hipodromo da Gavea in Rio de Janeiro, a qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Turf; the Clasico Cesar de Rio (Per-III) at Monterrico in Lima, Peru, June 22, for an automatic bid into the Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I); and the Copa De Oro Vinas De Chile (Chi-II) at Club Hipico in Santiago June 27, for a spot in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I).
