'Thank God I didn't give up' - Classic road leads to Rome for Beenham's owner Matteo Belluscio

Beenham, the recent Italian 1,000 Guineas winner, did not look an obvious candidate for European Classics when she appeared at last year’s Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale.

The daughter of Havana Grey was one of those well-schooled two-year-old sprinters that the Rod Millman stable produces perennially, winning once at Goodwood but barely stretching beyond five furlongs in an industrious, nine-race campaign. Most buyers in Newmarket seemed to agree, as she was at first bought back for 18,000gns.

It was only a little later that.Matteo Belluscio and Fabio Boccardelli, an owner and trainer not in a position to spend vast sums, decided to follow their instincts. 

Their collaboration in looking beyond the typical black and white indicators has now rewarded a racing-mad Roman businessman with an unforgettable moment of hometown glory at the Capannelle.

"I was looking for a male or female who could run a mile, but the price for that kind of horse was out of my reach," says Belluscio.

"Havana Grey seems kind of a magical stallion right now. I saw a couple run in Italy that did great, and also with her female line, Choisir was a very good and consistent stallion; that’s something myself and the trainer liked. 

"But it was more the formlines. At Goodwood she beat very strong horses like [subsequent Group 2 Vintage Stakes winner and dual 2,000 Guineas-placed] Haatem – we saw what he did – and there was also form with [Dick Poole Stakes winner] Juniper Berries. I studied what they all did afterwards, I saw some consistency there, which is what convinced me.

"When we watched the videos of Beenham, Fabio told me from the beginning that she could do more than six furlongs because of the way she runs. In the last race [the Tattersalls October Auction Stakes] she lost a little bit at the start but at the end was really running with a different gear."

There was still a hitch; Belluscio had missed his window.

"Someone had looked at her for us, they told us she was somewhat tiny but very correct," he says.

"We tried to buy another horse but we failed on the price and after that we came back to Beenham the next day and decided to make an offer to the owner.

"It was pretty complex; meanwhile she’d come back to a stud that was hundreds of kilometres further from Newmarket, so to bring her to Rome was a nightmare.

"I perfectly remember the time the carrier told me they had bad news and that the horse wasn’t there any more. For a second I was thinking, 'Maybe this is a signal that I have to give up', but thank God I didn’t do that."

Beenham had a couple of prep runs in Italy. She made progress in those but was still one of the outsiders of the field in the Premio Regina Elena, before showing a ready appetite for a battle as she held onto the lead from a swarm of challengers over the last couple of furlongs. 

Belluscio says: "She was really improving in herself on a weekly basis, physically and mentally, since she arrived in Rome and I’d say it helped to manage her to run a mile.

"It was a little bit expected from us since the last work she did before the race, and the tactic was a little bit different.

"We thought we could cover her a little bit more to the last furlong and let her use her power there, but that wasn’t the case. She was prominent and had to show great courage and heart."

Fit for a King

Belluscio describes himself as a "super tiny, micro owner", involved in a handful of horses of his own and in partnership with Boccardelli. 

The 50-year-old was realising an ambition he had nurtured since his first visit to the Capannelle as a child. It was not a family hobby but they happened to know someone that owned a runner.

"The moment I stepped in and looked at these fantastic animals running, I fell in love with it," he says. "I started to say I’d like to have a horse with my colours running all over the world; obviously my mother laughed at me at the time. From that moment, it was amazing."

Now running a company which produces and distributes medical devices around the world, Belluscio has been able to achieve that faraway ambition. He had Mehmas filly Venere Rokeby, a shrewd €2,800 Goffs yearling purchase by Boccardelli who earned black type and was a somewhat unlucky eighth behind the smart American export Wakanaka in the Regina Elena three years ago.

Together, the pair have even become co-owners of a stallion, Foot Of King, a son of Footstepsinthesand who was once ridden by Frankie Dettori in the 2019 Italian 2,000 Guineas and is covering small books for €1,500 at Allevamento Scuriatti in Umbria.

Foot Of King is standing at stud in UmbriaCredit: Allevamento Scuriatti

"He came from Allevamento La Nuova Sbarra, a historical stud here in Italy, and was phenomenal as a two-year-old," says Belluscio.

"There was a big offer from Singapore at the time, which they refused. They tried him at a mile but they failed; he had a bad injury and was retired quite early.

"We decided to buy him because we also wanted to try to make a few homebred horses close to Rome. The female line is a very good one and his dam, Icebreaking, was a good mare by Elusive City.

"He just started three years ago and, in theory, just after the summer we should see some of his sons and daughters start running, maybe around 12 that are completing their training at the moment.

"The mares that went to him are not, let’s say, champions. We started with our own and some friends, but he did get a couple of good mares last year, so he might be interesting."

Overseas ambition

Racing in southern Italy is the poorer cousin of the north, and the industry as a whole could certainly do with as many enthusiastic individuals of Belluscio’s ilk as it can find. 

The nation’s list of Pattern races has been gradually denuded owing to various transgressions and this has certainly not benefited Beenham, for whom there are no imminent races at home. 

The team decided that a step up to the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham on Prix du Jockey Club day at Chantilly this weekend was not the right fit and are likely to find her a Group 3 in France or Germany towards the end of the summer.

"It’s a pity we don’t have anything in the short term, she’s now better than before the race, she’s in incredible shape," says Belluscio.

Beenham is set for her next test in France or Germany later in the summerCredit: Matteo Belluscio

"I’d like to try to do some good things for Italy and the Italian movement. We need this. Fabio has done a very good job with her and we’d like to bring some enthusiasm for all the Italians that are making a lot of sacrifices with not that much success. To do that abroad would make me feel really proud, so let’s hope we’re able to do it."

It’s an honourable intention and Belluscio is entitled to be enjoying the journey with a filly who has already defied reasonable expectations.

"If we're able to place her in Pattern races abroad, maybe we could get a foal share with a big stallion, because I think she deserves it," he says. 

"My dream is one like Lope De Vega, a stallion I love. For someone like me, I can’t compare myself to the big studs and owners and to be thinking we could do something like that is amazing.

"It’s in the soul of all of us that love this world, that you can dream with a horse. That’s priceless for me. Now I’m thinking we can go in a Group 3 somewhere, if we win we can maybe go in a Group 1, whatever, then maybe a foal share. 

"That’s the heart of all of what we do around the horses."

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