French stallion Face Time Bourbon had two offspring that qualified for the start in the Derby Italiano del Trotto for 3-year-olds at the Capannelle track in Rome. The two Face Time Bourbon offspring won and came second.
First of Mind, trained by Alessandro Gocciadoro and driven by Antonio di Nardo, took the lead from the start, stayed there, and won confidently in 1:56f (mile rate) ahead of the field’s other Face Time Bourbon offspring, Frank Gio, trained by Sebastian Guarato and driven by Matthieu Abrivard.
The purse for the winner, First of Mind, was 334,800 Euros.
The Oaks del Trotto, the filly division with a purse for the winner of 105,800 Euros, was won by Follia d’Esi (sired by Ringostarr Treb), trained by Mauro Baroncini and driven by Marco Stefani in 1:56.4f.
The two top Swedish drivers, Ôrjan Kihlström and Magnus A. Djuse, were brought in to drive in several races for Alessandro Gocciadoro, who had five horses starting in the Derby alone. Djuse performed best with two wins — one of which came in the prestigious Gran Premio Gaetano Turilli with Always Ek (sired by Filipp Roc), winning in 1:55.1 (mile rate).