Photo courtesy of Hipodromo de Monterrico
Winner to Receive Automatic Berth into Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf for World Championships at Santa Anita Park
Breeders’ Cup Press Release
LIMA, Peru ― Stud Wall Street’s Samay (PER) seeks to avenge her only career defeat in nine starts when she leads a field of 14 fillies and mares in Sunday’s 1 1/4- mile Gran Premio Pamplona (G1) at Hipodromo de Monterrico in Lima, Peru. The race winner will receive an automatic starting position and fees paid into the $2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) via the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 80 Graded/Group stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
Samay, a 4-year-old daughter of Power World, has dominated her competition at Monterrico over the past two years, winning eight times. Trained by Juan Suarez, the world’s most successful trainer with more than 10,000 wins, Samay has won all three starts this season including her most recent outing in the 1 1/4-mile Clasico Republica Argentina (G3) May 28. In last year’s Gran Premio Pamplona, Samay fought for the lead in the final furlong but was passed by Ola Perfecta (PER) and weakened to finish third by 2 lengths.
The second and third place finishers in the Clasico Republica Argentina―Kentucky-breds Abundancia and Estrella de Fuego―have returned to challenge Samay in the Pamplona. Stud Dona Licha’s Abundancia, a daughter of California Chrome, is seeking her fourth win and her first one on turf. Trained by Arturo Morales, Abundancia opened 2023 with two dirt victories at 6 furlongs before finishing third in the 1 1/4-mile Clasico Felipe Pardo y Barreda (G3) March 11. Shifted to the turf for the first time in the listed 1 1/4-mile Clasico Ernesto Ayulo Pardo, she finished third behind Samay and Raika (PER).
Stud Agustin Gabriel’s Estrella de Fuego has won three of her five starts for trainer Eduardo Pianezzi. A daughter of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Oscar Performance, Estrella de Fuego made her turf debut March 4 at Monterrico in a 6-furlong allowance race, and won by 4 lengths. Extended to a 1 1/8 mile-allowance on turf in her next start April 16, she won by 1 3/4 lengths. Estrella de Fuego sat second behind the pace in the Clasico Republica Argentina into the stretch but was passed by Samay and Abundancia in the final furlong.
Raika (PER), owned by Stud Dos G and also trained by Suarez, is the only horse in the race to have finished ahead of Samay, which she accomplished in her runner-up performance in last year’s Gran Premio Pamplona to Ola Perfecta. A 4-year-old daughter of Minister’s Joy, Raika has won four races on turf, which includes a 2-length win in last year’s Clasico Republica Argentina (G3). This year, she finished fourth, 5 1/2 lengths behind Samay, in her title defense of the Republica Argentina.
Stud Dona Licha has also entered the 5-year-old Luna Nueva (PER), who has won on both dirt and turf this year. Also trained by Morales, the daughter of Kung Fu Mambo (ARG) won the March 11, 1 1/4-mile Clasico Felipe Pardo y Barreda (G3) on dirt, and following a second- place finish in a 1-mile dirt stake, she won her first turf race, taking a 1-mile stakes race by three-quarters of a length on May 6 at Monterrico.
As a part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees for the winner of the Gran Premio Pamplona winner to start in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita. Breeders’ Cup will also provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 23 to receive the rewards.
