Onwards and upwards with Latin America Latin America got into a lovely rhythm in the final two furlongs as he landed the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Maiden (Smullen Series) in Navan. There was plenty of promise in his runner-up berth on debut at the Curragh last month and he built upon that here. The 5/6 favourite really began to crank up the pressure on his rivals a furlong and a-half down and Ben Coen drove him home by a healthy two-and-a-quarter lengths. Genchev finished second at 4/1 and was three-quarters of a length up on Now Maybe (10/1). Johnny Murtagh said: "He is a nice horse. He was one of our better two-year-olds last year, got a few little hold ups. "I was keen to run him this year early in the season on bad ground and he ran very well (second). I think it was a good race at the Curragh. "This was a perfect race for him here today - a mile and a-quarter around Navan would suit him really well. Ben says when he hit the front, he's still learning a little bit, but he should come on a lot from today's experience and he's going to have to because we will probably step him up in class now. "That uphill finish here and that's the first time he would have experienced that faster ground as well, so I think he will have learned a lot today."
