Ampia Mede SM is the Queen of Europe

Runner-up in the Prix d’Amérique and winner of the Prix de France and the Prix de Paris, Ampia Mede SM is the queen of harness racing trotting in France.

No one would ever have expected a similar climb in relation to the Italian female from Ganymede towards the Olympus of international trot.

During her racing career in Italy, the country that gave her life, Ampia Mede SM proved to be an interesting mare with a good ability to compete in valid categories and, at times, also to know how to behave well in some trials of the classic circuit with some placements in classical contexts.

However, nothing about her hinted that a fighting spirit was hidden in her that one day would have led her to make her some of the main French trot races, consecrating herself as the queen of France.

Wanting to dwell on the genealogical picture of Ampia Mede Sm it is necessary to start from her father, Ganymede.

The last twenty years have not always smiled at Ganymede who, above all in France, has perhaps not enjoyed the trust from breeders that he undoubtedly deserved. Ganymede in fact despite having proved to be a good dad even if in truth he rarely expresses himself with some points and Ampia Mede SM is one of these, he had the misfortune of having throughout his career as a stallion the heavy shadow of other sires from the great international specific weight: above all it is possible to mention Varenne, Love You and Ready Cash.

If we want to look at the imprint that Ganymede has given to Italian breeding for example, in addition to Ampia Mede SM it is also possible to mention Moses Rob as his excellent son but we can also mention Looney Tunes, Nieves Vl, Tessy d’Ete just to make a few names and, if these examples can be valid for the Italian territory, for French breeding instead it is possible to name other names above all: Djion, Amiral Sacha, Quinoa du Gers, Bel Avis.

As for Ganymede’s competitive career for the colors of Daniel Wildenstein and the training of Jean Pierre Dubois, it is useful to remember that he was a classic winner at the highest level with the successes of the Prix Atlantique and Oslo Grand Prix.

The Ampia Mede SM female line starts from far away and reaches Sweden, or rather it can be said that it begins with Olympia L. a daughter of USA’s Florida Pro that Sandro Moscati breeder of Ampia Mede SM bought in 1995 from an owner of Stig Johansson.

Having finalized the purchase of Olympia L, Sandro Moscati did not insert her directly into her breeding but for about eight months he kept her in training, giving Olympia L the opportunity to do well also in the Italian tracks.

However, Olympia L, was able to give Sandro Moscati the best of herself when she entered the stud farm: for Sandro Moscati, Olympia L, she had eight children. One of the best was Free Dream SM who had to abandon his racing career very soon due to an injury which however allowed him to win in some good level races: Criterium Veneto, Maschio Angioino and Premio Marche winning a total of about 145,000 euros.

Some daughters of Olympia L were also important for the breeding of Sandro Moscati, in particular a daughter of Supergill gave life to Cup Olimpia SM who in her competitive career collected little, in fact she totaled 19,000 euros in sums won but he has been able to make a great impact on breeding. In fact, she in turn is the mother of Polimpia Slide SM, a daughter of Yankee Slide who in her competitive career recorded a record of 1.14.5, winning just over 14,000 euros, numbers therefore rather superfluous but from which Ampia Mede SM comes. Going back in time therefore, the family is that of Asani II, a daughter of Frosty Hanover (Star’s Pride) who Tore Larsson bought in Denmark.

She is not a champion in running in fact her competitive career has counted a number of victories that at most can be counted in the fingers of two hands, however she has been able to exalt herself in the race. In fact, in the second year of breeding, she was presented to Tibur and a female was born who was given the name of Attila L, a mare with a practically non-existent competitive career but, withdrawn from the stud farm, she was immediately served with Crowntron (Speedy Crown) giving birth to Queen L, a mare who was not able to exalt herself in the breed but instead capable of consecrating herself as a true champion in the breed.

Stig Johansson established a special feeling with her by understanding the mare’s racing attitudes and managing her accordingly. A harmony that brought great results with the victory in the Derby which consecrated her one of the best females of her generation and which gave some “headaches” to her owner Tore Larsson who after the race found himself having to face the intentions of the trainer according to which the mare could have left the competitive career to devote herself to the activity of mare.

However, Tore Larsson did not want to hear about withdrawing the mare to the stud farm and, upon seeing things, the intuition to continue her competitive career proved the owner right: among the elderly Queen L manifested herself as one of the strongest females in Europe, finding the Vincennes track is her ally: in fact she won two editions of the Prix de Belgique, one edition of the France and for once also the Prix d’Amérique.

Returning to the protagonist of this article, the seven-year-old female Ampia Mede SM, career winner of 1,293,096 euros and holder of a record of 1.09.7, according to reports from the Italian press, the intention of her trainer Fabrice Souloy is that of giving the mare a well-deserved period of rest, then resuming her competitive preparation which should not see her protagonist of the next Elitloppet 2023, to focus her attention on the Prix René Balliere which will be held in June in Vincennes. The ambitious goal is to do everything in the best possible way to try to win the Prix d’Amerique in 2024.

by Filippo Lago, for Harnesslink