If you pick a stallion on class, consistency, courage and physique, Ramonti has to be a sire to follow. A magnificent animal, Ramonti demonstrated over three consecutive seasons – in which he won 12 out of 19 races including five Group Ones, and was only unplaced once – that he was as tough and genuine as he was good. And that really is saying something.
As a three-year-old, Ramonti wasted no time in proving himself the best colt in Italy. A Group Two winner in the spring in Italy’s equivalent of the 2,000 Guineas, the Premio Parioli, Ramonti won three of his four races that year, sustaining his only defeat when second in the G1 Derby Italiano. The distance of 2400m was clearly beyond him that day, but his class and courage meant even so that he beat all but the winner De Sica.
Ramonti’s four-year-old campaign in 2006 was even more fruitful. He won five of his nine races that year, highlighted by the G1 Premio Vittorio di Capua over 1600m at San Siro, in which he beat a field of seasoned international campaigners, headed by Notability, Caradak and Distant Way. He notched a brace of Group Two wins over the same distance – the Premio Emilio Turati and the Premio Ribot – before ending the year with a great third place in the G1 Hong Kong Mile at the International Meeting at Sha Tin in December, finishing ahead of such classy performers as Bullish Luck, Linngari, Joyful Winner, Floral Pegasus, Rebel Rebel, Bowman’s Crossing and Dance In The Mood.
This great run, combined with the solid form which had preceded it, saw Ramonti recruited to Godolphin in time for his 2007 campaign – and what a campaign it was! Competing solely in Group One company, he raced six times that year for four wins and two seconds, and impressing racegoers every time with his strength and resilience. Beginning the year with a short-head defeat by Red Evie in the G1 Lockinge Stakes, Ramonti thereafter went from strength to strength, recording consecutive wins in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot – where he easily turned the tables on Red Evie, and also had the likes of George Washington, Jeremy, Cesare and Turtle Bowl behind him- and the G1 Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, where he stormed to a thrilling victory over Excellent Art, Jeremy, Asiatic Boy and Archipenko. Second place behind Darjina in the G1 Prix du Moulin du Longchamp followed, with several of his old rivals including George Washington and Archipenko again behind him, before he returned to the winner’s enclosure to end the year in glory.
At Ascot in September, Ramonti galloped to a second victory over his Sussex Stakes victim Excellent Art, landing the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes by half-a-length, with Darjina joining the likes of Duke Of Marmalade and Stormy River in following the pair home. If this victory was good, his final outing of the year was even better: seven months after his campaign had kicked off, Ramonti ended it in the style of a true champion by coping with the step up to 2000m in splendid style, topping the bill at the Hong Kong International Meeting with a stirring half-length defeat of local champion Viva Pataca in the G1 Hong Kong Cup, the pair having drawn clear of a classy field which included Musical Way, Shadow Gate and Vengeance Of Rain.
Ramonti’s superb victory in Hong Kong ensured that he bowed out for the year on a real high, and it was easy to see why Timeform gave him the high rating of 126, while remarking about his striking appearance that “he usually impressed in appearance and looked in tremendous shape before both the Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes”.
A son of the well-bred Marju stallion Martino Alonso (who comes from the same family as Derby winners Teenoso and Sir Percy) Ramonti is a son of the unraced El Gran Senor mare Fosca, whose dam La Locandiera (by Alleged) is also the grand-dam of Premio Parioli and Premio Ribot place-getter Ceprin. Ramonti’s third dam Moon Ingraver (by Kalamoun) won the Prix d’Astarte at Deauville and finished second in the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp, while his fourth dam Engraving (by Crepello) was a leading two-year-old in Ireland, being placed in both the Railway Stakes and the Park Stakes. Ramonti, though, is the best horse to have come out of this consistent winner-producing family, and his ability, consistency, courage and striking physique make him look outstanding value at his introductory stud fee of €5,000 (October 1, Special Live Foal).