For the sixth time since 2012, Stefano Botti celebrated victory in Sunday's G2 Premio Oaks d'Italia Tattersalls as Piccola Piuma (Saxon Warrior) powered clear in the Milan sunshine to run out an impressive winner in the hands of Fabio Branca.
Beaten just twice in six previous starts for the Botti stable, Piccola Piuma faced 14 rivals in this first black-type assignment, including the Charlie Johnston-trained favourite Jennifer Jane (New Bay), who led the field through the early stages in a repeat of the tactics which carried her to a wide-margin win in last month's Listed Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket.
Piccola Piuma raced in the slipstream of Jennifer Jane for much of the 2,100-metre contest, with stablemate Pomeranica (Saxon Warrior) briefly boxing in the eventual winner when she moved up to challenge early in the straight. Any anxious moments for backers of Piccola Piuma were short-lived, however, as she soon kicked into a different gear when switched off heels with two furlongs to run. At the line the daughter of Saxon Warrior was fully 3 1/4 lengths clear of her closest pursuer, with German raider Lady Evi (Masar) leading home a clean sweep of the next four places for overseas runners in second.
Lizzana (Saxon Warrior), runner-up in last month's G3 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1,000 Guineas), hit the frame in a second Classic for Marco Botti, finishing half-a-length further back in third, ahead of Francis-Henri Graffard's Lady Mara (New Bay) and Andrew Balding's Prizeland (Territories) in fourth and fifth, respectively. Jennifer Jane tired in the closing stages to trail home ninth of the 15 runners.
Pedigree Notes
Bred by Suroben Ltd, Piccola Piuma failed to find a buyer when initially offered by Baroda Stud at the Goffs November Foal Sale. She subsequently went under the hammer for a second time at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-up Sale where she was purchased by bloodstock agent Valfredo Valiani for €15,000. Now in the ownership of Jerome Sas and Elena Benvenutti, she is one of four winners from five runners out of the winning Sepoy mare Shaaqaaf who, in turn, is out of the Listed Conqueror Stakes scorer Burke's Rock (Cape Cross). Burke's Rock is also the dam of the G3 Pinnacle Stakes third Nell Quickly (The Gurkha), while this filly's great granddam, Miss Lacey (Diktat), is a half-sister to the multiple Group-winning sire Halicarnassus.
🇮🇹Premio Oaks D'Italia Tattersalls
Milan – Groupe 2 – Femelles – 3 ans – 2100m – 16 Pts – 418 000 €🏆 🥇Piccola Piuma (f3) (Ire) 🏇Branca Fabio
🥈Lady Evi
🥉Lizzana📖(Saxon Warrior (Jpn) @coolmorestud – Shaaqaaf (Ire) par Sepoy (Aus))
🕶️Stefano Botti Turf… pic.twitter.com/mxmT5muSju
— French and International Horse Racing (@Vincenzo0612) June 21, 2026
Sunday, Milan, Italy
PREMIO OAKS D'ITALIA-G2, €418,000, Milan, 6-21, 3yo, f, 2100mT, 2:06.80, gd.
1–PICCOLA PIUMA (IRE), 123, f, 3, by Saxon Warrior (Jpn)
1st Dam: Shaaqaaf (Ire), by Sepoy (Aus)
2nd Dam: Burke's Rock (GB), by Cape Cross (Ire)
3rd Dam: Miss Lacey (Ire), by Diktat (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. (€24,000 RNA Wlg
'23 GOFNOV; €15,000 2yo '25 TATMAY). O-Jerome Sas &
Elena Benvenutti; B-Suroben Ltd (Ire); T-Stefano Botti; J-Fabio
Branca; €161,500. Lifetime Record: 7-5-1-0, €203,531.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Lady Evi (GB), 123, f, 3, Masar (Ire)–Middle Creek (GB), by
Poet's Voice (GB). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (2,500gns Ylg '24
TATOCT). O-Westminster Stud Gmbh; B-Rebecca Phillips (GB);
€71,060.
3–Lizzana (Ire), 123, f, 3, Saxon Warrior (Jpn)–Texas Queen
(GB), by Shamardal. (€6,000 Wlg '23 GOFNOV; 9,000gns Ylg
'24 TATOCT). O-Scuderia Sagam Srls; B-Mrs Noreen Maher
(Ire); €38,760.
Margins: 3 1/4, HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 195-10, 141-10, 51-10.
Also Ran: Lady Mara (GB), Prizeland (GB), Pomeranica (Ire), Kebrilla (Ire), South Blaze (Ire), Jennifer Jane (Ire), Sakura (Ity), Bright Filly (Ire), Dream Sicily (Ire), Arkansas (Fr), Chelsea Believe (Ire), Regina Di Spade (Ire). Click for the Grande Ippica Italiana chart & video.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
