Sixties Song Seeks Second Latinoamericano Victory
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Photo: Jaime Andres Cortes Piccardo
Sixties Song wins the 2017 Latino Americano at the Valparaiso Sporting Club in Chile
There's a familiar face among the 17 horses pre-entered for the March 10 Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano (G1), and he's also the likely favorite.
A 9-1 shot when he won South America's richest race at the Valparaiso Sporting Club in Vina del Mar, Chile, two years ago, Sixties Song is back and apparently ready for a repeat try. This year's event, contested at Club Hipico de Santiago in Chile, will be run at 1 1/2 miles on the turf.
The Latinoamericano is worth $500,000, and the winner is offered entry to one of the group 1 races or the Hardwicke Stakes (G2) during the Royal Ascot meeting (June 18-22) in England.
Two years ago, Sixties Song, bred in Argentina by Juan Carlos Bago's Haras Firmamento, made the trip to England and ran 10th behind Europe's multiple highweight Enable in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1).
Racing for Julio Andreas Biancardi and trained by Nicolas Gaitan, Sixties Song has worked his way back to form, finishing 2018 in Argentina with a score in the Copa de Oro-Alfredo Lalor (G1) and a second over heavy going in the Dec. 15 Carlos Pellegrini Internacional (G1).
International Ratings are key when it comes to handicapping these types of events, and Sixties Song, by Galileo's son Sixties Icon out of Blissful Song, by Unbridled's Song, is the highest rated of the bunch at 115.
He'll need to be at his best. The last three editions of the Latinoamericano that took place at Club Hipico have been won by local horses.
Local hero Nuevo Maestro could be the one to make it four in a row. A winner of three straight over the local layout, he was the champion older male in Chile for 2018. Bred by the powerful Haras Don Alberto, Nuevo Maestro races for Agricola Ancali. The 6-year-old defeated Latinoamericano entrant Penn Rose in the Copa De Oro Maria Solari (G2) and Primavera-Hernan Braun P. and Carolina Budge De Braun (G3) and added the group 3 La Copa Dec. 21.
Nicholas covered 10 furlongs in 1:58.75 in winning San Isidro's Miguel Alfredo Martinez de Hoz (G1) Feb. 2 for trainer Enrique Martin Ferro, whose son Nicolas Martin Ferro was San Isidro's leading trainer in 2018.
Adding a pinch of youth to the race is the Don Alberto-bred Ya Primo, winner of the 12-furlong El Derby (G1) Feb. 3 at Valparaiso. The 4-year-old son of Mastercraftsman has two wins at Club Hipico.