MIGHT POMPEO AND KLAYNN BE THE HEROS OF THE ITALIAN GUINEAS DAY?

‘But luckily there's Riccardo...’ Many of you will remember Giorgio Gaber's wonderful song, which, on the occasion of this 2025 edition of the Parioli Prize, we at Ghinee can also make our own, changing the name, of course... ‘But luckily there's Pompeo...’. So, our little journey around the mile, which will take place on Sunday afternoon, begins happily. Yes, thank goodness that among the 14 starters in our Classic there is also Pompeo Dream, a guest from Germany. Why? Because his presence gives us international credibility, which could be reinforced by his subsequent performances, which could be beneficial in terms of ratings, the real problem with our patterns. In other words, staying above the expected waterline, which for Parioli, group three, is set at a total rating of 105. So Pompeo Dream, to be useful, must finish in the top four. This son of Muhaarar, trained by Bohumil Nedorosteck, should already have been familiar with our tracks in the autumn. He was in fact about to go down to Rome for the Berardelli, but uncertainties about his dispute, which was then run in Milan, caused him to change course towards Krefeld, but still in group three for the two years. In essence, he ran the German Berardelli over 1700 instead of 1800. He won it, hence the value of his presence. Since that afternoon, Pompeo Dream has been back in action, but if he accepts a long trip, we must assume that he is already in good shape. What prospects does Pompeo offer us?
Dream? Excellent, at least for us. At Krefeld, he defeated Place Fontenoy, who at Longchamp, in the rich Autumn Criterium over a mile, had followed Mount Kilimanjaro, from the O'Brien stable, then runner-up in the Criterium International over a mile, French group one. A line that, in terms of potential, could keep us afloat, obviously if Pompeo can perform well in the rest of the year. Not only that, but fourth on that occasion was our Dormello's ever-fourth Lips Vega.
He has some work to do, and perhaps better than Ghorkan did last year when, after finishing third in the Parioli, he also finished third in the German Guineas and then second in Group 3 at Deauville. Pompeo Dream will be challenged in the fourth race at 4.05 p.m. and second tris by 13 opponents. Brisone (owned by Avvocato Vellucci, trained by Stefano Botti, son of Earthlight and ridden by Marco Ghiani) is coming off a strong showing in the Daumier, a traditional stepping stone to doing well in the Parioli, a mile on the same track and distance as the classic. The 2025 Daumier also brings to Parioli the names of Lost President, Monello Sabino and Grand Kodiak, ready to overturn the order of arrival, which also includes Bridge Ashi Khun, not yet at his best this season but, based on his results, one of the leaders of his generation at two years of age. The Milanese Gardone, another canonical stage towards the big event, launches Became Gold (Alma Racing, which also means Max Allegri, Endo Botti, Salvatore Sulas, Holy Roman Emperor) who, with an obvious but not short nose, got the better of Impressive Royal, who was relaunching himself after his unfortunate Pisa and who has a score to settle with Became Gold. Pisa is one of the most traditional and canonical stages for arriving at Parioli with a chance of success. The San Rossore graduate, Lao Tsu (owner and trainer Stefano Botti, Maikol Arras, Kodiak), will not be missing. He is one of the best if we consider his entire career, which saw him follow Kabir in the December Criterium Pisano and finish fourth in the Gran Criterium, with Bridge Ashi Khun second and Monello Sabino third, while the guest Lazio won. The runner-up from Pisa and the third-placed horse will also be there. This is Kabir (Pink and Black, Endo Botti, Dario Di Tocco, Far Above), who always goes head to head with Lao Tsu and has a score to settle, while Zenorione, third in Pisa, has always followed both Kabir and Lao Tsu closely. Conformist has refined his approach, winning a conditional race in Milan, while Kantan Fly and Cleone Jet are the first two (Grand Kodiak was third) from Arconte, who has often launched towards Parioli (as was the case for Giovane Imperatore and Golden Titus). All of our best potential horses are there. They too
will have to prove themselves after the rest of the season's races. In the meantime... Luckily, we have Pompeo... a dream for our turf.

Regina Elena
Do we have our queen? For the moment, we have some very noble princesses, one above all perhaps. They will reveal their cards at 5.15 p.m., second tris, clearly on the Regina Elena mile, the classic slope of our turf. Parioli and Elena are the first two summits for the three-year-olds. Who could be the princess aspiring to the throne of Regina Elena? The cards inevitably lead us to Klaynn (Cardaioli stable, Endo Botti, Dario Di Tocco, Make Believe), who has a unique and wonderful regal charm: she has always won, which is no small feat. Her two-year career has been
a real Rossinian crescendo: debut, Repubbliche Marinare and Dormello. An overture which, after a flattering passage of age, was repeated in the obligatory Seregno at San Siro, an indispensable ‘step’ towards the classic. If you always win, you have the right to be the favourite, but you also have the obligation, in the event of a favourable outcome, to give your best and show our form in subsequent foreign contexts, which could be the German Guineas or perhaps the more illustrious Sandrigham in France. Slowly, first you have to pass all the others in front of the
wooden post so dear to Federico Tesio, the great one.

Klaynn has what it takes to do it. She will be challenged by ten others, all females, of course. Watch out for the Italian adventure of Mystery of Love, the daughter of Ten Sovereign by Enrico De Simone and trained by Stefano Botti, now ridden by Maikol Arras, who has never known defeat. Two out of two, including the Torricola, which is well on its way to the Regina Elena. This is a sign of remarkable consolidation of form and spring condition following her performances in England, three in all, which ended in January with an auspicious third place in a maiden race at Kempton. Bubuz (Chelsea, Endo Botti, Dario Vargiu, Kodi Bear) is making an impressive transition to maturity, having made the mile her domain and coming out of two excellent trials in Pisa in perfect form, always ahead of Pozzo di Bugia, who will obviously be looking for revenge. At two years old, Bubuz finished second in three listed races, a remarkable achievement. In one of these, the Criterium Femminile transferred to Milan, the winner was Fast Spirit, who, after a couple of attempts to close the gap, could be the famous ‘macchione’ of the classic. Also worth mentioning are Love Words, Ice Capades and Hekla Colt, following Mystery of Love in the Torricola, the returning but highly regarded Sopran Norma, the still maiden Teddy Dream, who is on the rise, and the venomous Giorgia Forever, who is in great shape but called upon to stretch her legs. Of the 11 in the field, four will be saddled by Endo Botti and Cristiana Brivio and two by Stefano Botti, but three, in addition to Cristiana Brivio, are trained by three female trainers, namely Giulia Coccia, Dalila Ducci and Silvia Amendola, the happiest sign and message for a race exclusively for three-year-old fillies chasing a rating of 101 to remain in group three.

The rest of the programme

Sunday afternoon will be one of the most eagerly awaited of the entire spring. Second only to the super day of the derby on 2 June. There will be eight races in total. The festivities will begin with the first race at 2.10 p.m., which will also be one of the two trials reserved for Arabian thoroughbreds. Immediately after, at 2.50 p.m., comes the listed race, the Signorino ITM, over 1800 metres for older horses, in view of the President of the Republic. Seven horses will be competing, all of them of good pedigree: Arrival,
Canticchiando, Frozen Juke, Master, Mordimi, My Eternal Love and Soligo. All of them are regulars in listed races. This will be a real semi-final ahead of the Tudini, the prize named after Carlo Ferrari, an immense jockey of pure talent, the only one capable of winning the Merano over hurdles and the Derby on the flat, among other achievements. Six older horses will be in action over 1200 metres on the straight, including Noble Title, Talentuosa and Chiaroscuro. The day will be rounded off by two crowded and certainly spectacular Handicap Principali races: the UPG prize over 1500 metres for older horses and the Jebel Ali, chosen as TQQ, over the same
distance but for older fillies.