An official test worthy of a challenge at the highest level, with a good crowd, held on Wednesday at the Bruno Neri stadium. Nobody resorted to tactics, everyone pushed hard, and in the end it seemed like a real race, as if the Palio had to be won.
The mini tournament of ten matches, divided into two sections of five, showcased the value of the men and steeds who will compete for Niballo on Sunday 23 June. Really interesting times came out of it, even from debuting horses, and only one error was made on target by Black in his career with Green. Each district has challenged all the others at least once. The test served to qualify two horses for each district, one of which will be used in the challenge valid for the flag.
Gertian “Gege” Cela (Yellow) tested the 7-year-old thoroughbreds All Our Dream in the first series and 13-year-old Ischia Porto in the second. Matteo Tabanelli (Black) first took Kelly in Black, 9 years old, and then Lethal Gray, 5 years old. Matteo Rivola (Red) tried his hand at Bide Tue, a 7-year-old Anglo Arabian, and then on Coltre di Neve, a thoroughbred 8. Luca Innocenzi from Foligno (Borgo Durbecco) competed against 6-year-old Mr Armando and in the second series with 8-year-old Perfectly. Marco Diafaldi (Green, outgoing champion) first tested the 7-year-old winner of 2023 Green Commander and then the surprising new entry Magia dei Sapori. The ranking was as follows: Yellow 3 shields; Red, Green and Borgo 2 shields each; Black 1 shield.
As regards times, the best was that of Marco Diafaldi, obtained with the revelation Magic of Flavors (12.402 for Green). For the Rosso Matteo Rivola with Coltre di Neve stopped the clock at 12.448. Giallo’s Gege Cela pushed Ischia Porto to record an excellent 12.485, but even with All Our Dream he didn’t exceed 12.581. Luca Innocenzi, on the other hand, did not go below 12.491 with Mr Armando and Matteo Tabanelli did not do better than 12.645 on the back of Lethal Grey.
The times provide indications on the possible pairs competing for the prize, but first there will be further checks, starting with tonight’s free practice.
For the purposes of a prediction, the analysis of the expert Mario Giacomoni is significant: «I saw significant and effective numbers, albeit different from each other – he commented -. It was a real show. Two horses I liked: All Our Dream (Yellow) and Magia dei Sapori (Green). All districts except Black have at least one 12.4 horse… on the right. However, I don’t think Matteo Tabanelli is out of the picture, I believe that in the end he will be even more “bad” than usual. At the end of official practice Luca Innocenzi returned to the track with Gun Jo in an attempt to improve the times obtained with Perfectly, but he only managed to do so on the right while on the left he didn’t go below 13 seconds.”
In the evening, Bandiera rehearsals were held in Piazza del Popolo in anticipation of the tournaments scheduled for this weekend.
