Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena


The Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena is a Group 1 horse race run at Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, open to fillies and mares three years old or older. It is currently run over a distance of on the turf.

History

The Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena was inaugurated in 1905 as the Premio Abril. In 1914, the race was renamed to the Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena in honor of Gilberto Justiniano Lerena Lenguas, a co-founder of the Argentine Stud Book who bred Argentinian Quadruple Crown winner Old Man and was associated with various famous and successful studs, including Stud Oriental, Stud Bend Or, Haras La Guardia, Haras El Moro, Haras Las Ortigas, and his own Haras El Viejo. The race ran as the Premio Old Man in 1954 and 1955.
The Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena has been run at a variety of distances, including:
When the group race system was introduced in Argentina in the 1973/4 season, the Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena was a Group 3 race. In 1976, it was still a Group 3. From 1988 to 1994, the Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena was run as a Group 2 race. In 1995 it was upgraded to Group 1, a designation it has since retained.
In 1990 and 1991, the race was restricted to horses that had won at least one race.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was not run.
The Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena is the second jewel of the Campeonato Palermo de Oro ® for fillies and mares, after the Group 2 Premio Clásico Arturo R. y Arturo Bullrich and before the Group 1 Gran Premio Criadores.

Records since 1988

Speed record:
  • 2200 meters : 2:10.48 – Belleza de Arteaga
  • 1600 meters: 1:33.08 – Southern Filly
  • 2000 meters: 2:01.39 – Malpensa
Greatest winning margin:
Most wins:
Since 1988, no horse has won the Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena more than once. Prior to that, the race was won twice by La Ñatita, Black Beauty, Palanca, Et Bien!, and Dorine.
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner:
Most wins by a breeder: