BAYOU ST. JOHN S. ( ), Fair Grounds , March 31, 2013 , $60,000 Guaranteed , value of race $60,000 , 4 yo's & up , About 5 1/2 furlongs , 1:03.16 Turf FM .

TWIN SPIRES TURF SPRINT S. (gr. III ), Churchill Downs , May 04, 2013 , $125,000 Added , value of race $138,250 , 4 yo's & up , 5 furlongs , 0:57.01 Turf GD .

Stud Sampaio’s Berlino Di Tiger was the champion sprinter of 2012 in Brazil, but his first two starts in the United States weren’t true indications of the 5-year-old horse’s ability.

The Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes (gr. IIIT) May 4 was a much better barometer of his talent. Berlino Di Tiger, ridden by Leandro Goncalves, won his first race since May 2012 when he nosed out 9-year-old Chamberlain Bridge in the five-furlong stakes raced on a turf course rated good.

Trainer Eduardo Caramori, who is based at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington and has a long history of training South American imports in the U.S., said Berlino Di Tiger needed to get acclimated after he arrived from Brazil. The horse made his U.S. debut in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes Feb. 2 and finished sixth; he followed up with an eighth-place finish in the Shakertown Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland in April.

“He was running straight (five-furlong turf races) in Brazil, never turning,” Caramori said. “We knew we were going to have a problem; in his first race he wasn’t ready for the turn and didn’t negotiate it very well.

“The second time we tried to rate him and it was even worse; he displaced (his palate). We took the tongue tie off (for the Turf Sprint). Sometimes horses just need a few races to adapt to the races in America.”

Berlino Di Tiger, by Tiger Heart out of the Torrential mare Rainha Da Bateria, was bred in Brazil by Haras Curitibano. He excelled on “off” turf courses during his run of seven victories in his first nine starts, including a victory in a group I stakes.

Berlino Di Tiger earned $83,144 to boost his career earnings to $212,212 on a record of eight wins and two thirds in 12 starts. He will continue to target turf sprints in the U.S., Caramori said.

Tiger Heart, a 12-year-old Kentucky-bred by Scatmandu out of the Silver Deputy mare No Small Miracle, was sent from the U.S. to Brazil in 2007. He finished second in the Vosburgh Stakes and Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (both gr. I) in 2005. From three crops to race, Tiger Heart has sired three group or graded stakes winners, with Berlino Di Tiger the most accomplished.—T.L.