Deep cast faces off in Gran Premio di Milano

European Group 1 winners Earl of Tinsdal, Estejo, and Quiza Quiza Quiza are part of a field of nine in Sunday’s Group 1 Gran Premio di Milano at San Siro Racecourse, the first major race of the year for older horses at the Milan, Italy, course.

The Gran Premio di Milano, worth approximately $261,000, is run over about 1 1/2 miles on turf on a right-handed course.

The three principal runners won Group 1 races in 2011 – Earl of Tinsdal in the Rheinland-Pokal in Germany, Estejo in the Premio Presidente della Repubblica, and Quiza Quiza Quiza in the Lydia Tesio for fillies and mares.

Sunday, they are opposed by a field that includes Atempo, winner of the Group 2 Gerling-Preis in Cologne, Germany, in April; Joshua Tree, second in the Dubai Gold Cup in March; and Vadamar, who was second in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt in Paris in April.

Earl of Tinsdal was fourth behind Atempo in the Gerling-Preis. Quiza Quiza Quiza was third in the Group 1 Premio Presidente della Repubblica at Capannelle last month, a race in which Estejo finished eighth.