Touch Of Destiny (courtesy of Roberto Estevez)
Asociacion Uruguaya De Propietarios De Caballos De Carrera (G3) at Hipodromo Maronas
Winner of First Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Race in Uruguay to Receive Automatic Berth into Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar
Breeders’ Cup Release
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Haras Phillipson’s undefeated homebred Touch of Destiny (URU) leads a six-horse field in Sunday’s Asociacion Uruguaya de Propietarios de Caballos de Carrera (G3) at Hipodromo Maronas. The winner of the 1-mile contest will earn an automatic starting position into the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 93 stakes races in 15 countries whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California.
Run under weight for age conditions for 2-year-olds and up, Sunday’s race is the first Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series event to be held in Uruguay, which becomes the fifth South American country to host a Challenge Series race this year, joining Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru.
Touch of Destiny, a 2-year-old son of 2008 Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Midshipman, has won all five of his starts in dominant fashion, and all at Maronas, for trainer Raimundo Soares. In his most recent outing, he missed the 7-furlong track record by just a fifth of a second when winning the June 1 Campeones Juvenile Stakes by 7 lengths. He scored a 9-length win in the listed April 27 Clasico Lavalleja going 6 furlongs. Sunday marks his first test going a mile and in a Group stakes race.
Another horse with five straight wins is the 3-year-old Si Senor (URU), owned by Jacobo Mattos, Federico Mattos, and Alvaro Mattos, and trained by Jorge Rey. A son of Senor Candy, Si Senor is a three-time stakes winner. He began the year on Jan. 6 with a 4 1/2-length victory coming seven wide in the stretch to take the 1-mile Gran Premio Pedro Pineyrua (G3), and after another local stakes win in February, he captured the March 23 listed Clasico Otono by 2 1/4 lengths at Maronas. Overall, he has won six of 11 starts.
Stud H&R’s Latte Macchiato (BRZ) is the defending champion, scoring a 4 1/2-length victory last year. Trained by Ricardo Colombo, this 5-year-old son of Put It Back has won two of four starts this year. After winning a Feb. 23 handicap race by 3 lengths, he finished second to Si Senor in the Clasico Otono. However, he rebounded in his last start, a 4 1/2-length win in the April 20 listed Clasico Benito Villanueva going 1 mile at Maronas.
Columbo has also entered H&R’s Samba E Samba (BRZ), a 3-year-old son of Rally Cry, who won two allowance races earlier this year, and finished third in the Clasico Benito Villanueva.
Stud Maluga’s 3-year-old Ultra Black (BRZ) finished third in the Gran Premio Pedro Pineyrua, but will be looking to improve upon four off the board finishes since then for trainer Ernesto Martinez.
A second starter for Haras Phillipson is the 3-year-old Sugar Bite (URU), a son of Will Take Charge who has won two of his last three starts for trainer Raimundo Soares, including a May 4 allowance-race victory by 2 3/4 lengths at 1 mile.
As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees for the Asociacion Uruguaya de Propietarios de Caballos de Carrera winner to start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1). Breeders’ Cup will also provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of California to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by the Oct. 20 pre-entry deadline in order to receive the rewards.
