Don Fanucci Zet outstanding at Jägersro
by Thomas Hedlund
Tuesday (July 29) night’s $320,000 Hugo Åbergs Memorial over 1,609 meters became a one-horse show when Daniel Redén’s Don Fanucci Zet (Hard Livin) defied a bad post (7) and more or less played with his opponents after a pretty tough trip.
According to plan, trotter Mellby Jinx (post 1) kept the lead for Daniel Wäjersten and the really hard opening failed to appear as Decision Maker made an early break and Dancer Brodde’s driver Johan Untersteiner never got into the fight for the front position.
A Fair Day and Don Fanucci Zet both got their marching orders from start and when the former landed outside of the leader, Örjan Kihlström could rest Don Fanucci Zet in third over, just for a short while.
With a lap (one kilometer) to go, Don Fanucci Zet had to move three wide, since Staro Mack Crowe attacked from his fourth over-spot, meaning that 9-year-old Don Fanucci Zet had to take another turn three wide, before he landed outside of Mellby Jinx just before the last turn.
By then, Don Fanucci Zet already had the advantage in the race and Kihlström noticed that none of the followers could keep up the same pace as Redén’s horse. So, Don Fanucci Zet left the rest of the field and cruised to an outstanding win in 1:51.4.
This was Don Fanucci Zet’s second victory in Malmö’s big mile race for the older elite, the first was claimed in 2022 and the Hard Livin son has never been in better shape than during this season. After the winter meeting in Paris, where he participated in the Prix d’Amérique and the Prix de France, trainer Redén discovered that Don Fanucci Zet had problems with his throat and an operation was necessary. Since then, the horse has finished second in Elitloppet, second in the Norrbottens Stora Pris, and a second in the Årjängs Stora Sprinterlopp before he claimed the prestigious race at Jägersro on Tuesday night.
His 63 lifetime starts have ended with 31 wins, $2.2 million in earnings and a mile record of 1:50.2. Don Fanucci Zet must be considered as one of the best Swedish-bred horses ever and even though he’s 9 years old, the saga about the pace-bred trotter seems to continue.
Mellby Jinx held strongly as the runner-up ahead of Daim Brodda.
HAGOORT AND GOCCIADORO IN BREEDERS COURSE
Two final divisions of the $100,000 Breeders Course for 3-year-olds were held at Jägersro Tuesday night (July 29) and in the colts and geldings event, German-bred Fragolino Rosso (Booster Winner) played a big role in the hands of Robin Bakker. The team of Paul Hagoort and Bakker usually shows up when big money is at stake in races across Europe, and behind first choice Fragolino Rosso, Bakker made no mistakes. Fragolino Rosso had to race outside of leader Gaudio, but was still strongest in the stretch. Bakker seemed to have more to use in his reins as Fragolino Rosso hit the wire in a track record of 1:53.2.
Hagoort and Bakker almost got the job done in the fillies’ division as well. Their weapon, first over trotter Greta Jet fought bravely from her position and Bakker looked to have succeeded with his tactics as he made sure that Magnus A. Djuse wouldn’t get racing room too early behind Glamour Queen (Face Time Bourbon). Djuse opted to trust his cover in Greta Jet when horses attacked three wide before the last turn, a situation that Bakker very well noticed, so the latter tried to keep Glamour Queen locked in between horses as long as he could.
But Alessandro Gocciadoro’s Glamour Queen found racing room on the inside and Djuse succeeded with his choice of staying on Greta Jet’s back as long as he did.
Italian-bred Glamour Queen sprinted to a safe win in 1:54.2.
ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR GOCCIADORO
Alessandro Gocciadoro sat behind his Always Ek (Filipp Roc) when the $130,000 Gran Premio Due Mari was scheduled in Taranto, Italy on Sunday (July 27) night.
Always Ek hit the lead after 500 meters as he took over from stablemate Dany Capar and thereafter, the race was pretty much over.
Always Ek danced away to a safe win in a track record 1:53 and claimed his second victory in a row in the Gran Premio Due Mari.
Dany Capar was second, and Usain Töll third.
JORMA KONTIO HITS 12,000 WINS
German driver Heinz Wewering is the most winning driver in history with nearly 17,000 wins in the sulky. Behind him, Finnish driver Jorma Kontio is undisputed in second and on Tuesday (July 29), the 72-year-old gentleman reached a great milestone as he claimed his 12,000th win in sulky races.
His first win came 59 years ago, when Kontio was 13 years old and his track record includes victories in most of the biggest races there are in the world.
He has driven and won with Varenne, Readly Express, Calgary Games to name a few on the list of well-known trotters he has won with, which would be very, very long.
When he claimed victory number 12,000 behind Odin Web, Kontio can, among many other big races, look back at wins in:
Derby Sweden — three times
Kriterium Sweden — four times
Kriterium Finland — six times
Derby Finland — nine times
Oaks Sweden — one time
E3 Sweden — seven times
Derby for mares Sweden — four times
Breeders Crown Sweden — 10 times
European Derby — three times
Hugo Hollola-ajo — 11 times
Oslo Grand Prix — two times
Criterium de Vitesse — one time
Åby Stora Pris — three times
Olympiatravet — three times
Kontio is one of the sport’s greatest gentlemen. A professional that probably never in his almost 60 years of competition has made enemies on or off the track.
A big salute for a big driver.
