Thursday 25 April at the Florentine racecourse Visarno-Cesare Meli will be held 197th Arno Cup: it is a Class A Main Handicap; the race, which has a budget of 38,100 euros, is reserved for thoroughbreds aged 4 years and over and is held over the 2,200 distance of the large track.
The Corsa dell’Arno in Italian horse racing prides itself on being the oldest gallop competition: it was born in Florence spontaneously from a challenge between Anglo-Saxon gentlemen. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Florence, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, experienced a period of exceptional prosperity, concentrating on itself a mixture of economic, cultural and political interests. Many of the most noble and wealthy families in Europe, Russian, Polish, French and British, having strongly suffered from its particular charm, resided permanently in the city of the lily.
In the Prato del Quercione, inside the Cascine Park, once an ancient hunting reserve of the Medici, since 1814 the scions of the wealthy and powerful families enjoyed competing with each other, personally riding the finely selected thoroughbreds, which stayed in the stables together with common horses, the latter intended for transporting carriages. A joking challenge gave rise to the idea of creating what would later prove to be the oldest race in Italy.
The 22 June 1827, at 4 pm, these gentlemen staged the first approved race, complete with registrations and prize money, called the Arno Prize.
The first winner was gray Riber, four-year-old horse belonging to Mister Bering. The news caused a great sensation and quickly reached the main European courts. Florence, worldly and artistic, enjoyed considerable international fame, which grew throughout the nineteenth century.
This gallop race, which proudly contains in its roll of honor the prestigious brand of the most important National Turf stables and which has concretely contributed to the birth and development of horse racing in our country, has been held on April 25th for about 40 years every year, maintaining a notable appeal to the Florentines, who on that occasion flock in their thousands to the Visarno racecourse. On Thursday 25 April the thoroughbreds of the Corsa dell’Arno will return to the round for the 197th time. Below are the last 15 winners (year, name of the winning horse, trainer and jockey).
2009 – Storm Mountain/Bruno Grizzetti/Dario Vargiu
2010 – The Phenomenon/Bruno Grizzetti/Dario Vargiu
2011 – Frankestein/Bruno Grizzetti/Dario Vargiu
2012 – Pale Face/Cristiana Signorelli/Mirko Demuro 2013 – Solomar/Stefano Botti/M. Esposito
2014-Demeteor/Riccardo Menichetti/Germ. Marcelli
2015-Demeteor/Riccardo Menichetti/Germ. Marcelli
2016-Mickai/Alduino Botti/Walter Gambarota
2017-Multicolours/Iacopo Bindi/P. Let them convert
2018-Pythius M./Riccardo Santini/L. Maniezzi
2019-Frutireu/A. Botti/D. Vargiu
2020-Blue Navy Seal/A.Botti/D. Vargiu
2021-Deeper Dive/E.Botti/C. Pigeons
2022-Clarenzio Fan/Stefano Botti/D. Vargiu
2023- Sadalsud/R.Biondi/A. Satta
Tags: Thursday April Florence Arno Race
