Having seen the form of Giavellotto’s Royal Ascot success given a handsome boost by Kalpana, Marco Botti is eyeing an autumn of international adventures for his stable star.
The seven-year-old is no stranger to heading off on his travels but proved a thorn in Andrew Balding’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner’s side for a second time when landing the Hardwicke Stakes in June.
Giavellotto is now set to head to Baden-Baden for the Grosser Preis von Baden on September 6, before both the Breeders’ Cup Turf and the Hong Kong Vase, in which he was second in 2024 before going one better last year, enter the equation.
Botti said: “The horse is training well and we’ve been unfortunate that when we made our plan earlier in the season we said he had been busy overseas and we would give him a gap after Royal Ascot.
“We are aiming to run in Germany at Baden-Baden in early September and that will give us plenty of time since Royal Ascot to freshen up. Baden-Baden should be next given it’s not too soft ground.
“We will give the Breeders’ Cup Turf plenty of thought after Germany and then there is also Hong Kong in December so both of those races will be considered.
“He had been kept busy and he ran in the Arc, then Hong Kong, Qatar and Meydan, so we wanted him to have some time off after Royal Ascot.”
Having already committed to a summer break for Giavellotto, there was a sense of what could have been for Botti after watching Kalpana down an all-star cast in Ascot’s mid-summer highlight.
However, he is taking the utmost confidence from the timely form boost as he looks forward to later in the season.
Botti added: “The entries for the King George closed before Royal Ascot and it is just one of those things where we already had our plan and we were even considering missing Royal Ascot knowing we wanted to campaign him later in the season.
“After winning the Hardwicke you did wish you had him in the King George, but it is just one of those things.
“It was good to see the form boosted and Kalpana was very impressive. We have to be proud of what Giavellotto achieved at Royal Ascot as the King George proves he beat one of the best mares around and she showed how tough she is, she’s an amazing mare.”