Reina de Mollendo Wins BC Berth in Gran Premio Pamplona

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Reina de Mollendo Wins BC Berth in Gran Premio Pamplona
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Photo: Julio Villanueva Bazalar fotógrafo del Jockey Club Del Perú
Reina de Mollendo wins the Gran Premio Pamplona at Hipodromo Monterrico

Arriba Arequipa's longshot 3-year-filly Reina de Mollendo took the lead early and held off all challengers to prevail a half-length June 26 in the Gran Premio Pamplona (G1) at Hipodromo Monterrico in Peru.

With her victory in the 1 1/4-mile test, Reina de Mollendo will receive an automatic berth into the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 84 stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which will be held Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the Reina de Mollendo to start in the Filly & Mare Turf, which will be run at 1 3/8 miles. Breeders' Cup will also provide a travel allowance of US$40,000 for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. 

Reina de Mollendo, a gray/roan daughter of Mastercraftsman  out of the Giant's Causeway  mare Royal Top, completed the distance in 2:03.81. Trained by Luis Olivares and ridden by Miguel Vilcarima, Reina de Mollendo has now won four races in six starts in capturing her first group stakes triumph.

A field of 13 went to the post, including favored Kentucky-bred Sissy Chanel, Peru's champion turf mare of 2020, and Stud El Herraje's 3-year-old turf filly champion Salmation, also trained by Olivares. Reina de Mollendo had won two allowance races at Monterrico earlier this year but had lost to Salmation by 1 1/4 lengths in her previous start. Reina de Mollendo was also making just her second start in a stakes race.

Breaking from post 10, Vilcarima easily guided Reina de Mollendo to the lead on the first turn and she opened up to five lengths along the backstretch. The challengers pursued her at the top of the stretch as she angled to the center of the course, with Salmation taking up a heated challenge to her outside. Sneaking up on her inside was another pursuer, Stud Augusta's 3-year-old Quinta Nota, bred in Kentucky by Charles Fipke, who passed six runners in the final 100 yards. But Reina de Mollendo held off Quinta Nota, with Salmation a neck back in third, and Sagrada (PER) in fourth.   

The Gran Premio Pamplona was the third Breeders' Cup Challenge race in this year's Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf division. Queen Supreme was the first to gain a free berth into the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf when she won the Jan. 9 Cartier Paddock Stakes (G1) at Kenilworth Racecourse in South Africa. Gran Alegria  was the next horse to receive an invitation when she captured the May 16 Victoria Mile (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.