BC Turf berth up for grabs in Argentina's Gran Premio International Carlos Pellegrini

The 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita is more than 10 months away, but a berth to the $4 million race is available to the winner of Saturday’s Group 1 Gran Premio International Carlos Pellegrini at San Isidro Racecourse in Argentina.

The $319,394 Carlos Pellegrini is the most prominent race in South America, bringing together several of the country’s top runners in a race at 1 1/2 miles, the same distance as the BC Turf.

The Breeders’ Cup organization will pay traveling and entry costs for the Pellegrini winner, provided the horse is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program when pre-entries are due next October. The BC Turf will be run on Nov. 2, 2019.

The Breeders’ Cup has launched the qualifying process for Southern Hemisphere runners early to allow the winner to acclimate to the Northern Hemisphere well in advance of the BC Turf, according to a statement released on Thursday.

The Pellegrini field is led by Sixties Song, who won the 2016 Pellegrini as well as the Group 1 Copa de Oro at 1 1/2 miles on turf in Argentina on Oct. 27. In the recent race, Sixties Song beat Stivers, who is part of Saturday’s field. Stivers was a Group 3 winner in Argentina earlier this year.

The Pellegrini field includes the 3-year-old For the Top, who won the Group 1 Argentine Derby at 1 1/2 miles on dirt on Nov. 16, and the 4-year-old Alampur, who won the Group 1 Grand Prix Dardo Rocha at about 1 1/2 miles on Dec. 2.