Argentine Ever Rider Seeks to Follow in Footsteps of Calidoscopio

Argentine Ever Rider Seeks to Follow in Footsteps of Calidoscopio

Less than 30 days to the most important equine meeting of the world, Ever Rider, the top hope for Argentina, started his engine for what will be his participation in the Breeders' Cup Marathon on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.

The gray horse, who was again entrusted to Maria Cristina Muñoz, qualified for the Marathon by virtue of his emphatic victory in the Clasico General Belgrano on June 21 at Palermo.

Under the tutelage of Juan Carlos Bianchi in three of his four victories, Ever Rider seeks to follow in the footsteps of Calidoscopio, the “UFO” who arrive from Argentina and stole the show with a burst of speed in the closing meters, achieving an impressive victory in the 2012 edition of the Marathon, also held at Santa Anita.

Contrary to Calidoscopio, who liked to drop well back in the early running and make his presence felt in the final meters, Ever Rider runs in front and enlarges his advantage with the passing of the meters. He is a horse whose campaign went from low to high this year, achieving three wins, one second and three thirds since he started racing in distances longer than 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles), scoring victories over 2,200, 2,300 and 2,500 meters (about 1 3/8 miles, 1 7/16 miles and 1 9/16 miles).

Muñoz, her trainer, is a horse lover who attends and comprehends them as if they were her children. She trained Ever Rider in his first five races, breaking his maiden, in October 2011. Training horses is a family legacy for Muñoz, both her grandfather and father and five uncles also worked with Thoroughbreds.

Defender of the stable silks of Alberto Ibañez’s Parque Patricios, Ever Rider arrived in Miami with her trainer on Aug. 2. After completing the rigorous quarantine, he was first installed at Del Mar before joining the Mike Puype stable in barn 38 at Santa Anita.

Ever Rider’s adaptation has been flawless so far, and Muñoz has been preparing him the same way as she did in Buenos Aires.

With three workouts so far on the track at Santa Anita, last Monday Muñoz tightened the clocks and Ever Rider entered the track at his usual time of 6:30 a.m., working alongside the Brazilian import Hawk’s Eyes, a two-time Group 1 winner in Sao Paulo, Ever Rider stopped the clock in 1:14 for three-quarters of a mile and galloped out 1 1/4 miles in 2:06 with former rider Anthony Gutierrez up. Seven days earlier, Gary Stevens had worked the grandson of Il Corsaro, describing his exercise as excellent and adding that he is a horse with much stamina.

Stevens, whose return to riding at 50 has been a happy revival of his Hall of Fame career, has the first call to ride Ever Rider in the Marathon.

Less than a month before the Marathon, Ever Rider is getting fitter. While his résumé is not as strong as some of the great horses, he has the distance in his favor, a trainer who guides him with passion and responsibility and Gary Stevens, for now, following his steps closely in his corner.

A little less than a year ago, the cry of “Argentina! Argentina ! Argentina !” was heard in the winner’s circle at Santa Anita from hundreds of sky blue and white-loving aficionados when Calidoscopio became the oldest horse to capture a Breeders’ Cup event as well as the first victor trained in Argentina.

Ever Rider will have the opportunity to duplicate that feat.

This time we won’t have to look a long way behind to see if the UFO is coming; this time we can simply look in front to see if Ever Rider is imposing his huge stride and wait for the finish line to see if he is truly as big as the land that saw his birth, as the porteña music, as the neighborhood of La Boca, as its magical South American soccer and if, indeed, he can stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the biggest names from Argentine racing who succeeded in the U.S.