Breeders' Cup Distaff Berth on the Line in Argentina
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Photo: Hipodromo Palermo
Kiriaki wins the 2017 Gran Premio Criadores
Multiple group 1 winners Halo Holiday, La Extraña Dama, and defending champion Kiriaki headline a field of 13 fillies and mares entered for the May 1 Gran Premio Criadores (G1) on dirt at Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo. The race is the first automatic berth into this year's $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) through the international Breeders' Cup Challenge.
The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of 82 stakes races where winners receive free berths and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Churchill Downs Nov. 2-3.
Halo Holiday, a 3-year-old filly trained by Juan Etchechoury and ridden by leading jockey Leandro Goncalves, comes into Tuesday's race off a win in the 1 1/8-mile Paseana Stakes (G2) on turf at San Isidro April 14, when she won by 1 1/2 lengths over Atomico Oro.
Owned by Stud Firmamento, Halo Holiday, a bay daughter of Harlan's Holiday out of the Southern Halo mare Cuidadosa Halo, posted back-to-back group 1 victories last year, when she won the Selección de Potrancas (Argentine Oaks) at La Plata by 10 lengths Sept. 24 and followed that win by edging Gold Beauty by a short neck in the Gran Premio Enrique Acebal Nov. 4 at San Isidro. She closed out the year on a disappointing note, when she came in seventh of 13 in the Copa de Plata (G1) at San Isidro Dec. 8.
A top challenger rounding into form is La Extraña Dama, a 4-year-old filly owned by La Pomme and trained by Jose Cristobal. On April 7, La Extraña Dama was a six-length winner over Magica Stripes in the Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena (G1) at Palermo over a heavy turf course. A bay daughter of Catcher In The Rye, La Extraña Dama, ridden by Eduardo Pavón, has won seven of 19 races.
Stud Santa Ines's 5-year-old Kiriaki, trained by Juan Udaondo and ridden by Gustavo Calvente, won last year's Gran Premio Criadores by a head over Hispanidad as the 3-2 favorite. In 2016, she finished second by a nose to Corona Del Inca. This year, she fared poorly in the Gilberto Lerena, where she finished seventh of nine at odds of 3-1.