Taranto 2009

The track is a very wide 1000m circuit with most of the races run over the 1600m mobile. We were hosted by Donato Carelli the track owner and the ever smiling Cosimo Panzetta

and the staff and management of the track who all left us all with wonderful impressions of Italian hospitality.Most fields have ten or less starters. However one notable exception to this was the third Amateur race which has NINETEEN starters from the mobile. And with eight across the mobile gate this meant a THIRD line of starters.

As you can probably imagine with the wider American style sulkies and the large number of horses, this resulted in a number of reported traffic problems in the post race discussions. The Italians have allowed the use of half hopples on their trotters which is not allowed in other European countries. The reaction of the northern European drivers was interesting.

They had the very clear perception that if the horse with half hopples on should gallop then it would fall. Another unexplained difference that I noted was the large numbers of horses that had pads on their front feet. This was easily over 50% of all horses observed and was difficult to explain as the track was in good condition with a good cushion on it.

All of the race sulkies are fitted with side poles. Similar in function to a gaiting strap placed on a NZ sulky, the side poles are operated by the driver with his legs...

In my second drive I was confronted with my first use of these. My horse lugged in on each of the bends and I was required to drive with my leg over the side pole and then hold it against the horses flank as we negotiated the bend. It sounds awkward and it was initially but by the end of the race I was quite comfortable in their use.

After driving for the first time in a non English speaking country I have to take my hat off to Peter Ferguson for his recent superb result at the World Champs. The difficulty of understanding your driving instructions and then extracting any additional required information across the language barrier certainly adds a whole new dimension of difficulty to the task at hand.The first Amateur race saw the ten invited drivers squaring off.

This first race acted as a qualifying race for the final with the first five drivers going through to the final on the second day. Drawing wide in barrier eight I elected to ease back and then make a run heading into the back straight the last time. Unfortunately my horse only battled when asked for the supreme effort and we ran home to finish close up in 7th position.

Alas no place in the final for me. The race was won by Roger Allerkranz from Sweden who looped the field with 1000m to run and went on to win easily.The second race was for the invited Italian drivers and was won by Rescio Federiso.

Roger Allerkranz from Sweden

The ten qualifying drivers in the final.

On the second day the ten qualifying drivers lined up in the final which resulted in a very competitive and exciting event. This was taken out by the very talented young French driver Pierre Delamarre who drove a well judged race to hit the front around the final bend.

The final event of our stay was a race which combined all the drivers together in one very large nineteen horse field. My horse warmed up nicely and felt very good and as one of the main chances I was definitely in with a shot.

Prior to the start as I attempted to turn him on the track he backed up rapidly and crashed back into a horse that had commenced his turn right behind me. This resulted in a collapsed sulky wheel and some nice bruising to my ribs. After the wheel change the field congregated and we formed up behind the mobile gate. Being drawn fourteen I came up behind the six horse who I was instructed was expected to charge out to the lead. Unfortunately the horse I was trailing galloped 50m prior to the start and came back onto me rapidly checking my horse causing him to gallop.

In New Zealand this would have been a false start. Not so in Italy. So no glory, but plenty of wonderful experiences. A highlight of which was the opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones in the international harness racing community. The sharing of ideas and experiences with people who share the same passion was certainly a winning one.

Gavin COOK (2008 World and New Zealand Amateur Driving Champion)

The results are in from the IV Truffo Magna Grecia at Taranto Italy's Paolo Sesto Hippodromo. Truly Pope Paul the Sixth must have been watching as well as the fans, as none of the participants equine or human, suffered any major mishaps. The 19 horse field on this 1,000 meter (5/8ths mile track) can just accommodate eight on its gate, but someone called for a Tris or large field triple race and then thought to humorously to add an equal number of gentlemen drivers to the mix.
This spectacle was viewed and wagered upon throughout the country. As a preliminary to the spectacle there was a race off between the best five of the international invitees and their local Italian counterparts. That meant that Allenkrantz of Sweden led the international team of five against team Tortorella, who won the all-Italian preliminary. In this race off however the French lad Dellamare was the victor, giving him a win and a second overall. Allenkrantz of Sweden was third. The French national anthem played and from atop his winning perch Dellamare was on his cell phone to home, announcing his accomplishment.

The main event had all the participants echoing the comment made by someone that this 19 horse field was "insane", except for the preoccupied French and Spanish drivers who were the envy of all the local girls. Those drivers were kept busy with requests for photographs mostly with little pecks on the cheeks of the admiring and shy smiling local girls. Then the time came for business. Somehow 19 horses seemed to appear from the detention barn were the Tris horses are housed and non comprehensible last minute instructions were being shouted out with responses from most, consisting of merely smiles, or from myself, a truthful "non capisco".
Once on the track, horses were everywhere, in the infield jog track (common in parts of Europe), inside the pylons, jogging and making false starts or scoring down around one "curva". Well I have post four and I have one plan, get out of the way as soon as possible and try to avoid getting involved in what would appear to be an approaching cavalry charge. Just before our scheduled start and while these horses are all wound up, Gavin Cook's horse rears, backs up into another horse and sulky smashing Gavin's sulky wheel to smithereens. Our fate will await a wheel replacement. Gavin's bruised and a little bloody but we'll all make a go of it, Gavin included.
Somehow this time we are all in the correct positions and I and two inside me are of the same mind- get to the top or as close to it to avoid the traffic that is sure to be behind us. We are three abreast, as the crafty Swede falls in behind Tortorella but there is no room for Joe, so I'll try the top. My long lost cousin Tortorella seems to want the pocket and invites me to go on. My horse however does not wish to cooperate after the earlier three wide struggle and my instructions are not to cut the mile anyway. The two hole is not completely occupied but there is room behind Allenkrantz. From that strategically placed third position I commence to finish 10th in the field of 19.
My English speaking buddy Gavin Cook with a very good horse got bad luck as the Hungarian took him out of the race early. The winner Tortorella again, with Allenkrantz finishing third. All in all Allenkrantz was the overall best, with strong showings from many who were unplaced. Dinner at midnight was next followed by the exchange of presents between each of the countries and our host Donato Corelli, his beautiful daughter and our new found friend Cosimo. An invite has been extended to us once again, now planned for next year. The last or III Truffo Magna Grecia was held in 2005 and the Rucker girls represented the USA and many Italians thought they might move to Ohio after meeting them.

The bottom line to all of this is that amateur racing is a vehicle to keep owners in the game and maintain relationships with others who support our game in their own countries and who pop up at places like the US sales. We have a lot in common with those who share our interests and we can impart information and knowledge to them that they lack and we can certainly learn from them also. These competitions and any our great professionals engage in, on the racetrack and in conferences and meetings can help us all do better for our sport. Perhaps a nationwide wager like the Swedes have been so successful with, or closing, and racing down city streets as fascinated me years ago in Holland are things we can try in major cities to bring our sport directly to the fans for a tasting. Now it's back to work and a try again in the Hambletonian amateur race on Wednesday evening that's after a panel at the Albany law school racing symposium on Tuesday in Saratoga Springs with the USTA's Mike Tanner and company.

The day started out just fine. A trip to the sea. Laying out at the beach. All part of the grueling preparation for the race last evening. Not to forget of course the macaronis and wine. The evening began at the track when most of the work with the horses commences as the heat during the day is quite near totally exhausting. We are introduced to our trainers and caretakers. They explain just about the same thing to each of us through translators – hold on tight or he’ll make a break and attack the last 400 meters. You can win! Problem is, there are ten of us and if this be true it would be one great blanket finish. Later I am told that only if the horse I drive, Francimar doesn’t make her usual break at the start does she have a shot. I check her record it is 7-0-0-0. She’s not going to be one of the ten winners.

The group of international amateurs is paraded on foot accompanied by flag bearers carrying the colors of the countries they represent. The USA is last in the parade. An omen of things to come. Each driver says hello in their respective tongues, the crowd cheers wildly and Fred Moder, the FEGAT president makes some more pertinent remarks to the crowd about the importance of the competition about to unfold. The Swedish driver is kidded about his horse having gone to Roma by mistake, so we all now know that he has the best horse and our only chance is if he indeed he did go to Roma. In Italy, a track like Taranto and many others race two days a week. The horses and horsemen are forced to travel great distances to compete on a regular basis and often do enter their horses at multiple tracks, then have the right to withdraw the entry if they learn that someone has entered a better horse in that race. A race secretary’s nightmare of a system. Taranto, most remain here as Napoli is 3.5 hours away. The horses here then race for example on Saturday evening and back Sunday.

Our race is set to go and my horse feels OK. As we approach the gate the trainer appears and adds equipment and I head for my spot as second trailer. The only problem is that the trainer of the 9 tells the first trailer to take my spot behind the two. I try my best to tell the Hungarian driver to go behind the “eins”, or one but later I find out that he was on his orders. I try some Italian on the starter who doesn’t seem to mind that someone is out of position. Oh, God where is the Yonkers starter Andy Toscano when I need him most. Complicating things the 3 is taking off the gate and I find myself in the third tier. Perhaps I think for a second that I can go behind the one. Then I realize that I am becoming one of them. Aren’t there rules that are enforced, and indeed the rule is the 9 behind the 1 and the ten behind the 2. No matter, in her usual fashion she makes her break behind the gate and finishes in her most comfortable position for she and I, last. There is a God though, as the Hungarian will drive her today.

A very good driver with the best horse and a friend of Jimmy Takter, Roger Allenkranz settles his steed the first 600 meters then as Billy Haughton used to say pulled and passed the leader up front “like a freight train going past a platform” and draws off. The World Champ gets to drive that one today. That is Gavin Cook from New Zealand where the World Cup will be in 2012 after the French host it in 2010 in Paris. Dinner is after the 7th race which is at 11:30 pm. Back to our hotel Quis Ut Deus in the town of Crispiano a beautiful Masseria or farmhouse with a chef that just won Italy’s highest award. Check it out at info@masseriaquisusdeus.com.

Today is the Gran Premio which is the premier event at this track and the grand sideshow will be the nineteen horse amateur race. At least we draw on the first line as they say here – the six hole. From the looks of things it will be real tough to beat Gavin Cook with Grigaico BS that the Swede drove yesterday.

We’ll see how it all turns out after the heavy training on pasta and wine that has become part of our regime. The rest go to the beach today, not me I tried that route yesterday it didn’t work. Hope for a lotta luck is all I have going for me here. It is still a great experience.

Tonight starts the festa for 40 harness racing people at the hotel and spa, Qvis Vt. Deus. It is named in
honor of St. Michael, who killed the devil and afterwards it was announced that there is still one God.