Italy’s Lorenzo Baldi the magnificent

He is one of the members of one of the most important families of harness racing in Italy: he is Lorenzo Baldi.

Born in Bologna on 6 June 1960, he is known by the younger generations for having been the architect of numerous recent classic winners: Divina Slm, Falcon Dei Bessi, Gruccione Jet, Pick Kronos, Royal Blessed.

These are just to name a few. Trotting racing enthusiasts with some white hair, on the other hand, remember him from his first success in sulky in Nylon, at the time the bearer of the historic Biasuzzi family for which Giancarlo Baldi, Lorenzo’s father, worked at the time.

It was the beginning of the career of a young professional who shortly thereafter would write pages of the history of the trot in Italy and beyond thanks to important horses such as Indro Park and Lancaster Om to which he won the Derby Italiano Del Trotto, Magic Lobell and Yourworstnightmare.

Lorenzo has always had a point of reference to his father Giancarlo: “of course, he says. My father was a legend to me. As a boy I followed him on every trip, so much so that at the age of 9 I had the opportunity to work a horse for the first time.

“Those were the years in which we worked in Mirano with the Biasuzzi family,” Baldi explained. “Those were years in which Giancarlo Baldi truly won everywhere and I still remembers those victories today: I particularly remember Timothy T’s Prix de Paris and Timothy T’s Elitloppet victory in 1974″.

Lorenzo’s professional career is also full of great achievements.

“I want to remember my first Derby in 1988 with Indro Park” Baldi explained. “Subsequently I had the pleasure of bringing home many important races but another victory that I remember in a particular way was the Nations Grand Prix won with Indro Park where we left behind important horses such as Friendly Face and Napoletano.”

However, the good Lorenzo was also the protagonist in America: “It was a great emotion to win a race in the Triple Crown with Magic Lobell who was a family horse for us,” Baldi recalled.

For an established professional like Lorenzo, identifying a favorite horse is a feat bordering on the impossible, however we tried to ask him which was the strongest horse he has trained and played in racing.

“There are many,” begins Lorenzo. “Dontellmenomore he was the strongest ever, especially with regard to his athletic potential. Another horse that gave me so much was Indro Park, both from a human point of view and from a professional point of view. I am also very fond of Hollyhurst while of Lancaster OM I remember above all its ductility.”

With Lorenzo, the opportunity is excellent to address a rather hot topic here in Italy, the crisis that has afflicted horse racing for many years.

“In the 80s and 90s there was much more sport,” Baldi recalled. “Politics dealt with horse racing and above all there were many owners.”

At this point, however, a question arises to which Lorenzo cannot fail to give a precise answer: why has the Italian sector been in crisis for years?

Lorenzo attacks: “Certainly due to a total lack of interest in politics even if finally, something seems to be moving, and then the age-old question of payments. It is an easy reasoning to understand, until the premium payment “machine” resumes functioning in a stable manner, the sector struggles to retrace its ascent towards the future, and, above all, it is almost impossible to involve new owners.”

Returning for a moment to one of the questions previously addressed in this interview, it is necessary to remember that Lorenzo Baldi was also “the man of Vernissage Grif.”

Undoubtedly with the Gocciadoro team Varenne’s son has made an important leap in quality, however the excellent work that Lorenzo Baldi with his staff has done in his youth and not only with Vernissage Grif being recognized by many: young it was understood that he would become a champion, he had something more than other horses, that charisma that distinguishes important horses.

With him I remember above all the victory in the Premio Etruria in Florence, one of the most important races in the classic panorama of three-year-old horses in Italy.

He imposed himself with a great course in 1.13.1 on the distance of 1600 meters in front of Vaprio, another horse who has been able to behave very well in the continuation of his competitive career.

In short, said of the distant and recent past of “Lorenzo Il Magnifico”, all that remains is to wish him good work, with the hope that among the 76 horses he currently trains, a new champion can be hidden.

If you have any questions or story ideas for Filippo Lago, please email him at lagofilippo0@gmail.com.

by Filippo Lago, for Harnesslink