Peruvian turf champion ZEIDE ISAAC again proved his class when the son of FREUD registered his fourth group victory, his sixth "clasico" win, and his 11th tally overall by beating ten rivals in the Group 3 Clasico Baldomero Aspillaga at Hipoddromo de Monterrico in Lima on Sunday, February 19. Racing under the royal blue colors of Stud Manning, the versatile 7-year-old broke from the 10th post in the 2,000-meter metric equivalent of a 1¼-mile turf event and closely pursued the pace until surging ahead between foes while leaving the second turn. He subsequently was challenged on both sides but kicked in again in the deep stretch with a late switch to his left lead, scoring by almost a length. Placing second was a Group 2 winner at Monterrico last October. Peru - along with the United States, Canada, and all the major European and Pacific Rim racing jurisdictions - has been designated a Part I country by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee since that organization's inception.

Zeide Isaac also has won three Group 2 grass events - at 2,000 meters (twice) and at the 2,400-meter metric equivalent of 1½ miles - scoring at the latter distance by 4¼ lengths in the Clasico Presidente de La Republica in the time of 2:26 3/5 while carrying almost 128 pounds. Another of his "clasico" victories was at 1,500 meters (about 7½ furlongs) in 1:28 1/5. In Zeide Isaac's first 16 starts - all at Monterrico - he had eight wins and eight seconds, scoring his first two tallies by big margins in back-to-back dirt sprints at 1,000 meters (about five furlongs) and 1,300 meters (about 6 1/2 furlongs) despite being the youngest participant both times. Apparently, having been foaled on a North American schedule (conceived in New York, arriving in Kentucky in April, 2005, and bred by Nelson Bunker Hunt) did not overly compromise Zeide Isaac's early career as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old.

The next day, Presidents' Day, Freud's stakes-winning daughter, FREUD'S NOTEBOOK ($240,694), romped by 3½ lengths as the favorite among seven in a $57,000 allowance optional contest at 1 1/16 miles on Aqueduct's inner dirt, scoring her fifth career victory. Racing for Bree-N-Me, the 5-year-old mare along with Zeide Isaac is among Freud's 56 runners with dollar earnings in six figures - the latest being 4-year-old FREUDIAN DILEMMA, who topped the $100K mark with a second-placing in a seven-furlong allowance at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania earlier this year.