As precise as the proverbial Swiss watch, the well-known rider from Romagna, Manuel Cortesi, marked two identical scores of 221.5 to claim the lead in the Level 4 go-rounds; this was also the top score in the second go (whereas in the first Mirko Midili riding Not Black At All, owned by Luga Qh produced an excellent 223.5) and took Cortesi to a total of 443 points. With Manuel was Ar Vintage Dream, a stallion by A Sparkling Vintage out of Sweety Candy Dream bred by Luigi Parise - a passionate breeder who has produced many good horses - and owned by Azienda Agricola Cortesi Piero, namely Manuel's father. The duo previously won the Piedmontese Prefuturity and was Reserve Champion L4 Open in the 2019 Austrian Futurity 3YO.
Tying on 432.5 to top Level 3 we have another two well-known Italian professionals: Stefano Angelucci, who works in his own facility in Cerveteri, Rome and - practically from the other end of Italy - Max Ruggeri, who trains at the beautiful Alps Coliseum in Egna, Trentino. Max will be in the final with Tinselmartin, a beautiful palomina owned by his breeder, Marino Pilotto, also a well-known name from the world of “small” but “high quality” Italian breeding where the quantity has been limited but the quality has remained constant over the years. With Max in the saddle Tinselmartin, daughter of Hollywoodstinseltown and Tarismartin, was both Open Co-Champion at the Lombard Futurity and ARTA (the regional association of Trentino Alto-Adige) Futurity Champion. Stefano Angelucci, who is also the leader in the Open 3YO Level 2 go-round, showed the buckskin Zag Ebony Gun. The mare bred by Antonio Zagaria and daughter of Shine Chic Shine and Gun At The Gate belongs, like Cortesi’s horse, to the family stables and is formally owned by Stefano's father, Severino Angelucci. Before this outing she had competed only in the Austrian Futurity where she was a finalist at Levels 3 and 2, the only ones for which she was registered.
Yet while these three riders are in no way new to the IRHA Futurity, having reached the finals several times and, in the case of Manuel and Stefano, having appeared here since they competed as Non Pros, Markus Süchting is making his debut at this event: the German’s score of 425.5 aboard Mello Yello Jersey placed the pair top at Level 1. The chestnut stallion by Yellow Jersey out of Smart Okie Lena, owned by Kay Schroeder, was bred by the Canadian Lucie Houde and started at two years at Tremblay Performance Horses in the US. Last January the stallion’s reins passed to Markus, 30, who works at his own Hanover ranch in northern Germany. “I grew up with horses,” he says, “I was riding before I started speaking; I'm serious! I've never had a trainer, but I've followed some clinics with international riders”. Multiple Bronze Trophy Winner, three times Silver Medallist in his National Federation, winner of the 2018 World Equestrian Games Bronze Medal with the German team and FEI European Reining Championship Senior Team Gold Medal in 2019, with Mello Yello Jersey Süchting participated in the 3YO Futurity of NRHA Belgium entering the final at all levels and finishing Level 1 Reserve Champion, as well as the Breeders Futurity in Germany where the pair won Levels 2 and 1, obtained third place in Level 3 and finished fifth in Level 4.
Italian Reining Futurity press office
