Trotting feast in Turin

by Thomas Hedlund

Turin in northern Italy will be at the center of the European harness racing world on Sunday (Oct. 11).

The card features the $440,000 Grand Prix de l’U.E.T., the $550,000 UET Elite Circuit final, the $900,000 Derby del Trotto, and the $300,000 Oaks del Trotto. In other words, all eyes will be on Italy.

The 4-year-olds had to qualify for the Grand Prix de l’U.E.T. through eliminations, with two contested in Paris, two in Stockholm, and one in Turin.

The five elimination winners — Milady Josselyn (Ready Cash), Guglielmo Jet (Maharajah), Maestro Vrie (Village Mystic), Mellby Narrow (Maharajah), and Fragolino Rosso (Booster Winner) — drew the five inside posts behind the gate.

The likely favorite will be Paul Hagoort’s German Derby winner Fragolino Rosso, who was particularly impressive winning his Vincennes elimination.

Europe’s best older horses have been accumulating points in the UET Elite Circuit since last November. French star Go On Boy (Password) finished atop the standings ahead of Don Fanucci Zet (Hard Livin) and Epic Kronos (Muscle Hill). Epic Kronos will skip Sunday’s final in Turin.

$440,000 GRAND PRIX DE L’U.E.T., 2,100 METERS

Post	Horse	Country
1	Milady Josselyn	Sweden
2	Guglielmo Jet	Italy
3	Maestro Vrie	France
4	Mellby Narrow	Sweden
5	Fragolino Rosso	Netherlands
6	Peggy Boko	Netherlands
7	Miss Matters	France
8	My Quality Piya	France
9	Ginger Gio	Italy
10	Recycle Cash	Sweden
11	Mostra de Banville	France
12	Gangster Vendil	Sweden

$550,000 UET ELITE CIRCUIT FINAL, 2,100 METERS

Post	Horse	Country
1	Harley Gema	France
2	Go On Boy	France
3	Don Fanucci Zet	Sweden
4	Free Time Jepson	Italy
5	Frank Gio	Italy
6	Krack Time Atout	France
7	Daim Brodda	Norway
8	Always Ek	Italy
9	Powwow	Norway
10	Luke The Spook	Sweden
11	Dubhe Prav	Italy
12	Kentucky River	Sweden

$900,000 DERBY DEL TROTTO

Post	Horse	Sire	Driver
1	Ippopotamo Tq	Nuncio	Enrico Bellei
2	Iambellesi Tq	El Ideal	Marco Stefani
3	Il Trio Jet	Wishing Stone	Santo Mollo
4	Iceberg Lp	Face Time Bourbon	Andrea Guzzinati
5	Inimitable	Bar Hopping	Vincenzo Luongo
6	Ideal Turdance	El Ideal	Antonio Di Nardo
7	Impressive Dance	Love You	Romano Tamburrano
8	Italo Ssg	Maharajah	Andrea Farolfi
9	In The Night Gar	Victor Gio	Alessandro Gocciadoro
10	Indianfire Wf	Alrajah One	Roberto Vecchione
11	Illinois Best	Ideale Luis	Giuseppe De Filippis
12	Itan Pal Ferm	The Bank	Vincenzo P. Dell’Annunziata
13	Incanto Three	Maharajah	Crescenzo Maione
14	Ilias d’Arc	Victor Gio	Pietro Gubellini

$300,000 OAKS DEL TROTTO

Post	Horse	Sire	Driver
1	Io Tu e la Rosa	Father Patrick	Pietro Gubellini
2	Intesa Ek	Face Time Bourbon	Alessandro Gocciadoro
3	Ifigenia of Brown	Walner	Robin Bakker
4	Ischia Joy	Mister J.P.	Francesco Facci
5	Ingrid Am	El Ideal	Antonio Di Nardo
6	Impressive Gio	Face Time Bourbon	Gaetano Di Nardo
7	Irma Ferm	The Bank	Marco Stefani
8	Ifnoe Degli Dei	The Bank	Vincenzo Luongo
9	I Am A Dream Gar	Face Time Bourbon	Magnus A Djuse
10	Indra Pal Bar	Face Time Bourbon	Örjan Kihlström
11	Ialmaz Indal	Ze Maria	Rene Legati
12	I Am Jet	Nuncio	Roberto Vecchione
13	I Love America	Muscle Hill	Andrea Guzzinati
14	I Fly For Bar	Oropuro Bar	Gaspare Lo Verde

SWEDISH CLASSICS TAKE CENTER STAGE AT SOLVALLA

The European stakes weekend begins one day earlier in Stockholm. On Saturday (Oct. 10), Solvalla will host Sweden’s two biggest races for Swedish-bred 3-year-olds: the $600,000 Swedish Trotting Kriterium and $450,000 Swedish Trotting Oaks.

Both races look unusually wide open, with no obvious favorite. One colt to watch in the Kriterium is Daniel Redén’s Kodiak Zet (Father Patrick), who has shown some similarities to Redén’s recently retired superstar Francesco Zet, winner of the same race in 2021.

Redén will be even more heavily represented in the Oaks after qualifying four fillies for the final. Leading that group is unbeaten Nightbird (Calgary Games), who will attempt to make it eight victories from eight career starts.

$600,000 SWEDISH KRITERIUM

2,640 meters, auto start

Post	Horse	Sire	Trainer
1	Po Tay Toes	Calgary Games	Björn Röcklinger
2	Toto Tooma	Explosive Matter	David Persson
3	Nanda Devi Cut	Maharajah	Mattias Djuse
4	Kodiak Zet	Father Patrick	Daniel Redén
5	Steady Spender	Readly Express	Eric Martinsson
6	No Hitter	Gimpanzee	Sabine Kagebrant
7	Payback River	Readly Express	Daniel Wäjersten
8	Intro	Readly Express	Björn Röcklinger
9	Court One	Calgary Games	Timo Nurmos
10	Neutron Star	Gimpanzee	Claes Sjöström
11	Mister Nabab	Mister J.P.	Daniel Wäjersten
12	Vancouver Tile	Walner	Björn Goop
13	I Love America	Muscle Hill	Andrea Guzzinati
14	I Fly For Bar	Oropuro Bar	Gaspare Lo Verde

$450,000 SWEDISH OAKS

2,140 meters, auto start

Post	Horse	Sire	Trainer
1	Nelly Furtado Sisu	Django Riff	Sören Lennartsson
2	Kagli Zet	Missile Hill	Daniel Redén
3	Global Halo	Ready Cash	Joakim Lövgren
4	I See Tail Lights	Maharajah	Markus B. Svedberg
5	Nightbird	Calgary Games	Daniel Redén
6	Graffiti Brodda	Readly Express	Joakim Lövgren
7	Zeebreeze	Gimpanzee	Daniel Wäjersten
8	Miss Brighton	Calgary Games	Daniel Redén
9	Thai Medina	Face Time Bourbon	Björn Goop
10	Deer Hunter	Bird Parker	Daniel Redén
11	Morning Rain	Face Time Bourbon	Daniel Wäjersten
12	In Tango Tempo	Walner	Fredrik Wallin
13	I Love America	Muscle Hill	Andrea Guzzinati
14	I Fly For Bar	Oropuro Bar	Gaspare Lo Verde