The filly switches to turf at Colonial Downs after two dull efforts on dirt; the colt runs at Kentucky Downs while stepping up in class
Happy Happy Day runs for a claiming tag of $80,000 / JUAN I. BOZZELLO
Two quality Argentine-breds will be in action Thursday in the U.S., each looking to take another step forward toward a possible return to stakes company.
At Colonial Downs, Dulce Despertar will switch to turf after two disappointing efforts on the dirt. She goes in race eight, a one-mile allowance optional claimer carrying a $25,000 tag and a purse of $72,000. Trained by Ignacio Correas IV for Sonia LLC (the U.S. branch of Haras Vacación), the daughter of Il Campione will be ridden by Horacio Karamanos from post 4 in a field of 11. A longshot on the morning line at 30-1, she’ll be making her first start on the grass following graded victories at home in the G2 General Luis MarÃa Campos, G3 Raúl Aristegui and G3 Pedro E. y Manuel A. Crespo. The Frosted filly Quadra, fresh off a local allowance score, looms the chief danger.
Later at Kentucky Downs, Happy Happy Day (Hi Happy), representing Stud Las Monjitas, tackles race 10, a $200,000 allowance optional claimer at 1 1/2 miles on the turf, with a claiming tag of $80,000. Conditioned by Paulo Lobo and partnered by Luan Machado, the Haras Firmamento-bred exits a confidence-building allowance win at Belterra Park and now takes a significant step up in both class and conditions. Winner of the 2023 G1 Gran Premio Jockey Club in Argentina, the colt has struggled to recapture that same top form since, and Kentucky Downs’ idiosyncratic layout will offer a fresh test.
A dozen have been entered (plus one on the also-eligible list), with Mutaawid (Quality Road)—a last-out winner of a similar race at Belmont at the Big A—tabbed as the morning-line favorite.