Hat Puntano to make SA racing debut
ARGENTINIAN-bred fouryear-old colt Hat Puntano will be running his debut on South African soil at Turffontein tomorrow following an impressive run in Argentina.
He has a solid record of four runs for three victories. Two of those wins were in Grade 1 races!
“He is an absolute specimen, he will take peoples’ breath away,” said trainer Mike Azzie when asked about Hat Puntano. Azzie’s charge doesn’t seem to have much in his favour when he runs in Race 7, but the trainer didn’t shy away from sharing how well this colt has been doing at home. “Hat Puntano is an absolute pleasure to train, he is a typical man he wants you to know he’s the boss,” Azzie chuckled.
He is working well and his form tells the story on its own. He has a high merit rating and lacks nothing in the class department but will have a lot against him in this event.
It’s on the Inside Track and he hasn’t raced competitively in over a year plus it won’t help that he is badly drawn at No 11 and will have to carry 60.5kg.”
A son of Hat Trick, he will be facing tough opposition in in the form of last year’s Grand Heritage winner Irish Pride.
There was quite a media frenzy around Hat Puntano earlier this year when he was nominated to run in the Vodacom Durban July. Azzie confirmed that Hat Puntano will have absolutely no issue staying the 2 000m and 2 200m distances.
“We were looking at a number of races when we first got him you know, the July being one of them.
“We also thought maybe a shot at the Triple Crown. But for now we’ll see how he performs and then we will take it from there. The good news is he has grown, gotten stronger and bigger.” said Azzie.