Fiumicino Returns To Gr. 1 Winners' Circle

Cambridge Stud-bred gelding
Fiumicino (NZ) (Zabeel x Latte) has returned to the Group One winners' circle in great fashion with a fine victory in the A$2.2 million BMW Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill racetrack in Sydney on Saturday.

Fiumicino won the Group 1 Australian Derby as a three-year-old and at the time looked one of the most exciting young staying prospects in Australasia. He was rated the top of the 2006/07 Australasian 3YO Classifications (long).

Fiumicino has now won five races at distances ranging from 1600m to 2400m. His other major win to date came in the Group 2 Hill Stakes.

Trainer Michael Hawkes told ANZ Bloodstock News: "He was sort of down and out but a mile and a half today on a bog track, and it was an absolute bog when he won the Derby, he has won a couple of races in between but this is pretty special,"  Hawkes explained.

"He handled the ground today because it was so heavy. Once he got his toe right into it he was quite happy. When it was just a little bit slippery  the other day he did not let go,"  Beadman said.

Fiumicino (NZ) is closely related to the Japan Cup winning mare, Horlicks, who was one of the finest racemares of all time in the world. The owner-breeder of Horlicks is Graham de Gruchy,.

Horlicks is the grand-dam of Fiumicino and her progeny include the 2000 Melbourne Cup winner Brew and Group 2 winner Bubble. Fiumicino's dam is Latte who is by Maroof, who formerly stood at Cambridge Stud.

The win by Fiumicino has given his sire, Australasia's greatest living sire Zabeel, a clear lead in the 2008/09 Dewar Stallion Award Trophy - a title he has won 12 times before.