by Karsten Bonsdorf, USTA web newsroom correspondent

The European Grand Circuit race Campionato Europeo, at the track in Cesena, was won by the unknown Looney Tunes, driven by Mark Esper and trained by Holger Ehlert.

Until three months ago, when Looney Tunes joined the stable of German born trainer Ehlert, the 5-year-old trotter had raced in ordinary races in Palermo and Naples in southern Italy. The son of the top French sire Ganymede has improved quite a lot and this past weekend Looney Tunes made a name for himself by winning the Campionato Europeo in a race-off with favorite Italiano.

The Campionato Europeo is a heat race and the first heat was won by favorite Italiano, driven by Enrico Bellei in 1:57.2h, while Looney Tunes finished fifth.

But in the second heat Looney Tunes surprised the field. He was 18-1 in the betting and won iin 1:563h, followed by Italiano.

In the race-off Looney Tunes was able to dispute the lead to win in 1:57h. The victory was worth $165,000.

Loony Tunes nearly doubled his earnings and now has a lifetime bankroll of $425,000. He has raced 70 times and has won 29 races.

Holger Ehlert is the leading trainer in Italy. So far horses from his stable have won $2.8 million and 285 races. He has a strike rate of no less than 24.8 percent to win!