At the Snai San Siro Hippodrome, Wednesday evening, with the last event of June as well as the penultimate of the spring-summer session of the season, awaiting the closing set for Wednesday 3 July and which sees in the program two listed valid for the Giuseppe De Montel Award and the Gino and Luciano Mantovani Award. Also yesterday evening, 26 June, at the Snai Sesana Hippodrome in Montecatini Terme, the fourth seasonal day of Wednesday evening trotting was reserved for gentlemen with the event dedicated to Cesare Meli, a prominent figure in Italian trotting and president of the Italian Gentlemen Drivers, at its centre. – Federnat – passed away in mid-April 2019.
We begin the news of the 29th day in Milan with the top of the meeting, the Gold Cup, the listed full of charm and tradition on the 3,000 meters of the large track, in which the highly anticipated German favorite Waldadler did not go beyond third place after he seemed to be able to dominate at the 400 meters. The one who really dominated, however, was Atzeco, sensationally rediscovered and once again at the levels of when he beat everyone in the best distance trials, and winner again after having won the 2022 edition. Wuthering Heights came out second with the honor of weapons, dropping only after a strenuous fight.
Before the highlight the sub-highlight with the Trenno AwardMain Handicap for older horses competing on 1,800 meters and signed, in an authoritative manner, by Coins Cross who started sharply in advance passing the leader Starnberg, who brilliantly maintained his altitude for the second place ahead of two tough elements like Merlano and Rock Life.
Of particular technical interest is also the conditional test for fillies aged 3 years and over over the double kilometre for the Danedream Award, which the returning Dolce Napoli made its own with a vigorous cutting-edge path and revealing an already advanced condition which bodes well for the many top events for the autumn. Surprise second place for the Sardinian Denaga De L’Alguer, while something more was expected from Gris Celebre.
The day included the three finals of the San Siro Circuit: the first was the Sprint over 1,200 meters with a race that did not reserve any surprises despite the great and subtle balance of the day before, with the Roman guest Sunday Of Paris who overwhelmed everyone with his unstoppable progression, while not even the photo finish succeeded to separate Flying Horse and Etoile De Vallarsa, who finished in a draw. In the final for the Classic over 2,000 metres, however, Joyful won the first race of her career, finding her day of glory by managing her perfect early sprint at the end of Addaveni, while Naif remained in third. In the final which also closed the meeting at the Snai San Siro Hippodrome, the one for the 1,600 meter Mile, My Lovely Marty triumphed, crowning his coast-to-coast conduct by saving himself from the finals of Raven’s Love and Disputed.
Finally, at the start, the maiden with the 2 years on 1,200 meters supported by Biselli Foraggiwhich saw the very interesting success of My Mix, a debutant with certified high hopes capable of immediately hitting the mark with already expert moves, coming up from behind and beating the resistance of Rosa Dei venti, who for her part confirmed the good performance on which she remained .
Wednesday 3 July last early evening of this first part of the galloping season in Milan with the two listed valid for Giuseppe De Montel Award and the Gino and Luciano Mantovani Award.
The fourth day of trotting of the season took place at the Snai Sesana racecourse in Montecatini Terme on Wednesday evening was reserved for gentlemen with the event dedicated to Cesare Meli, a prominent figure in Italian trotting and president of the Italian Gentlemen Drivers – Federnat – who passed away in mid-April 2019.
In the meantime, there is anticipation for the next meeting, scheduled for this Saturday 29 June, not only for the seven track tests in which the Municipality of Montecatini Terme Award, always with the gentlemen protagonists, and the Giuseppe Verdi Awardthe latter starting from the ribbons for 3-year-old horses, but also for Italy’s football match against Switzerland for the round of 16 of the European Championship (6pm) which will be possible to watch in the racecourse on the giant screen before the start of racing.
The Wednesday in honor of the “Presidentissimo” Meli and with the race prizes named after some of the most illustrious standard-bearers of the Bellosguardo stable, saw in the spectacular invitational handicap valid as TQQ, uncertain in the estimates, the unexpected victory of Aaron del Ronco with Lorenzo Pantarotto: let’s be clear, the son of Iulius del Ronco is a gifted horse but also a subject that is anything but simple; the crowded field and the many passages seemed to relegate him to a secondary role and instead he was able to pull out a capital performance by staging a vigorous progression in the final 500 meters, first exploiting the slipstream of Zeno del Ronco and then, once the rival had exhausted his momentum, placing the best strokes in the straight to clearly pass in the final at an average of 1.17.4 over 2040 meters. Canter Kronos ran very well, leading initially before giving way to Baccani: the Caterina Dami standard-bearer kept good contact, then in the straight he sprinted inside to take a deserved second place. Baccani ran the race imposing a brilliant pace that favored the triumph of the start even if the leader in the straight found himself short of energy, and after giving way to the first two, he also lost third place to Azteco dei Greppi, with Zodecar Verynice completing the Quintè podium.
In the Jesolo Glow Award Manuele Casillo scored the thirteenth success of his short but already brilliant career, the first on the Sesana track and the first in tandem with Futura Trebì: the daughter of Twister Bi emulated (in a small way) the other jewels of the stable Cosmico Polare and Dali del Ronco and imposed herself strongly, putting the leader Flora Pan to the ground after an external course, at an average of 1.17.1. Behind the winner was Flufly Star who won the sprint for second place over the tired Flora Pan and Fenice Matto.
There was no shortage of surprises in the rest of the conference too, in fact we can say that it was a bad day for the favourites: starting from the opening round, the Hello Boy Award 1980which saw the defeat of Enterprise As, unexpected given that things seemed to have gone in the best way for the mare guided by Matteo Zaccherini, immediately in command and free to set the pace: instead, in the straight the pupil of Afrim Shmidra did not know how to restart and Eshaal Mil, with Jessica Rosaspina, after having shadowed her from the start, mocked her on the inside at an average of 1.15.1. Valid third Edith Del Ronco after an external course.
As in the opening test, the second rope position also proved profitable in the Sicolone Prize 1969, with Dribbling Op and Sandro Gori following Ipsos Dairpet, they overtook the leader on the last bend and in the straight line and narrowly saved themselves from the very incisive final rush of Dark Lady Cav, with an average of 1.16.9, while Ipsos Dairpet remained at the third place. The main protagonist of the evening was Nicola del Rosso, who achieved a nice triple, even if the first success of the meeting came with Fabres dei Greppi in the 1998 Soberania Prize but only “on the table” after the distancing of Feel Happy, guilty of damage to Frejya of Poggio at the moment of overtaking. Friulano Jet finished in second place, the others all on the scoreboard.
The Nicola del Rosso show continued in the last two tests of the evening: first in Zigfield Prize 2004 with Chames dei Greppi, who with surgical inspiration beat the favorite Zar Dei Baba in the final stages with an average of 1.14.6, and then in the Lando Correvo Award 2015 with Escudo dei Greppi, who after following Eva Doctor, was the first to move when the tread fell, taking the lead and holding well to the end to stand out with an average of 1.17.4 over 1640 metres, preceding Embassy San and Eva Doctor who recovered from ‘impasse on the penultimate straight. Here too, a bitter fate for the current favourite, Elvi Queen Iz, who galloped in the initial phase.
To close the June calendar at the Snai Sesana Hippodrome the meeting on Saturday 29th preceded by the football match between Italy and Switzerland at 6pm. Then we will enter the month of July, in the heart of the season, with nine events, highlighting the evenings of Saturday 13th and 20 respectively with the Gran Premio Nello Bellei and the Gran Premo Società Terme – Memorial Vivaldo Baldi.
