Brazil Is The Exception

BRAZIL IS THE EXCEPTION 
By Diego H. Mitagstein 
Worldwide, getting a Triple Crown winner has become a very difficult journey. Brazil, however, seems to be an special place nowadays. Each year in Brazil there are a pair of Triple Crowns: at Gavea in Rio de Janeiro, and the other at Cidade Jardim of the enormous San Pablo City. 
The actual record in the country of the samba and the “carnaval” is really incredible: last Sunday, Bal a Bali (Brz) (Put It Back), in winning the G1 Grande Premio Cruzeiro at Gavea, became the third winner of the series in the last three years.
Plenty of Kicks (Brz) (Crimson Tide {Ire}), with Jorge Ricardo on the irons, was the first to arrive, when shining at Gavea during the 2012 season, and Fixador (Brz) (Crafty C.T.) enjoyed the same pleasure last year at Cidade Jardim. Now, Bal a Bali joins the team in fashionable form, as he won two of the three gems in record time. 
Bal a Bali is the 12th winner of the Carioca Triple Crown and beat Hendrix (Brz) (Honour and Glory) by a length, stopping the clock at 2:23.25, a new stakes record for 2400 meters on the turf track. He took the first leg of the Triple Crown, the G1 Grande Premio Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 12 in 1:31.36, a new track record for the mile, and the second leg, the G1 Gran Premio Francisco Eduardo de Paula Machado, Feb. 16. 
Bred by Haras Santa Maria de Araras and owned by Stud Alvarenga, Bal a Bali was ridden by V. Borges and trained by Dulcino Guignoni. He has won nine of 10 starts and finish third in his lone loss…simply a true champion. Click here to watch the Grande Premio Cruzeiro.