From Rome to Madrid, Let the Classics Begin

[Wandering Eyes]

Following a day of no racing in Italy as a mark of respect while the funeral of Pope Francis took place, Italian racing leads us into the European Classic season this Sunday, along with Spain, with both sets of Guineas being staged in Rome and Madrid respectively.

Jockey Marco Ghiani heads back to his native country to take rides for Stefano Botti in the G3 Premio Pariolo (Italian 2,000 Guineas) and G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1,000 Guineas). His mount in the colts' Classic, Brisone (GB), is from the first crop of Darley's Earthlight (Ire) and won his seasonal debut over 1600m to take his record to two victories from five starts. He may face a stiff challenge from stable-mate Conformist (Ity) (Helmet {Aus}), a Botti homebred who is now a four-time winner.

Far Above (GB) is also represented by a first-crop Classic runner in the form of Kabir (Ire), a Listed winner last December for Endo Botti. In five starts to date the consistent colt has never been out of the first two.
We saw record after record tumble at Doncaster on Thursday but one colt who did not cost the earth at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale of 2024 was Kanthan Fly (Kantharos), who was sold by Eddie Linehan's Lackendarra Stables for £3,000 to owner Romano Srls. He's been kept busy by trainer Carmelo Bottone and has rewarded his connections with five wins from his 10 starts to date, and comes into this Classic test on the back of four straight victories.

The Allevamento Le Gi-bred Klaynn (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) sets the standard for the fillies in Capanelle's Premio Regina Elena. Unbeaten in four starts for Endo Botti, including the G2 Premio Dormello last October, she reopposes the third from that race, Fast Spirit (Ire), who is also a daughter of Ballylinch Stud's Make Believe and won last season's Listed Premio Gino e Luciano Mantovani.

Another of the young Darley stallions, Ghaiyyath (Ire), has a number of Classic entries across Europe in the coming months but his first will be Sopran Norma (Ire), bred by Mary Gallagher. A maiden winner at San Siro last year, she is trained by Pierangleo Pirisi for Leonardo Ciampoli.

Italian racing has recently undergone a significant rebranding under the umbrella of Grande Ippica Italiana, with all the country's races streamed live via the organisation's new website, which is available in English and French as well as Italian.

La Zarzuela's Big Weekend

The architectural wonder that is Madrid's La Zarzuela racecourse stages both the Gran Premio Cimera (Poule de Potros – colts) and Gran Premio Valderas (Poule de Pontrancas – fillies). Neither race carries black type but they are hotly anticipated as the spring highlight of the action in Spain.

The country's champion trainer Guillermo Arizkorreta has three chances of notching a fourth victory in the colts' Classic. His old friend, the former multiple French champion jockey Ioritz Mendizabal, returns home to ride the trainer's Yogui (Fr) (Al Wukair {Ire}), while the Spanish champion Vaclav Janacek is aboard stable-mate Soltan Gatsby (Fr) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}).

The Ballylinch Stud-bred Goodmood (Ire) is the winner of three of his five starts for Alvaro Soto, who won last year's Spanish 1,000 Guineas equivalent. His sire Make Believe has four Classic runners this weekend, including Fiction (Ire) in the Gran Premio Valderas. Soto is also represented by Gaucin (Fr), one of two colts in the race, along with Metro Dubai (Fr), from the first crop of Elarqam (GB), the French-based son of Frankel (GB) and Attraction (GB).

Arizkorreta also has three runners in the fillies' Classic, led by Octans (Spa) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}), who ran with great credit in Dubai over the winter, finishing second in both her starts at Meydan.

A trio of first-crop stallions feature in this race, too, with Kameko represented by Ghost Run (GB), while the former Ollie Sangster-trained Ecology (Ire), a dual winner in Spain, is a daughter of Earthlight (Ire), and Vozpornoche (Ire) is by King Of Change (Ire).

 

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