South America’s Best Gather for the Latinoamericano

A field of 12 of South America’s top dirt horses representing Brazil, Peru and host country Uruguay is set to head to the post for Sunday’s G1 Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano at Maronas Racetrack in Montevideo.

Last year’s race, conducted over 12 grassy furlongs at the Valparaiso Sporting Club in Chile, was won by then 3-year-old Sixties Song (Arg) (Sixties Icon {GB}) and sophomores look to figure prominently this time around as well.

Local hopes rest on Fitzgerald (Brz) (Put It Back), who will try to become the first Uruguyan-based winner of the Latinoamericano since Good Report (Arg) (Ride the Rails) carried Jorge Ricardo to victory at La Plata in 2007. Winner of four of his six starts at Maronas, he exits a five-length victory against his elders in Group 3 company over course-and-distance Feb. 3 (video).

Argentina is represented by Roman Rosso (Arg) (Roman Ruler), who has won four times from his last five outings, including open-lengths victories in the G1 GP Provincia de Buenos Aires at La Plata last October and in the G1 Nacional at Palermo (video) when last seen in mid-November.

Peru accounts for a third of Sunday’s runners, including El Entrerriano (Per), a 3-year-old son of 2009 Breeders’ Cup Marathon winner Man of Iron (Giant’s Causeway–Better Than Honour). Runner-up to the impressive Golden Leaf (Arg) (Stay Thirsty) in the G1 Derby Nacional at Monterrico in November, he was most recently the easy winner of a Group 3 at home going Sunday’s 10-furlong trip Feb. 11, with Barbon (Per) (Badge of Silver) and Dixie Wave (Arg) (Stormy Atlantic) second and third, respectively (video).