Malavio’s owner-breeder Ottavio Galletta is in an exuberant mood in the lead-up to the G3 Bill Ritchie Hcp (1400m) at Randwick this Saturday.

“He’s going to win the Epsom!” Galletta said.  “He is a very, very nice horse and we haven’t seen the best of him yet.  I think he may even be better at 2000 metres.”

Malavio is a last-start winner of the G3 Tramway Stakes (1400m) on September 7.  It was a quality performance in a quality field and earned the son of Snitzel a ballot exemption for the $500,000 Epsom Handicap on October 5.

Malavio (5g Snitzel – Win Here Win There by Dehere) is trained by Steve Englebrecht and is named for Ottavio’s grand-children Maria, Lara and Ottavio.  He’s won 9 races and earned more than $400,000.

Ottavio emigrated from Italy in 1963 and built up Galletta Construction which employed up to 200 people in the 1970s.  Ottavio began to race horses and he started right at the top with 1976 Australian Harness Horse of the Year Don’t Retreat.

Ottavio gave up racing horses for several years until he sold a few properties and set up a café with his son John in Norton Street, Leichhardt.  He bought Our Fiction (Zoffany) as a broodmare and bred five foals winners from her, most notably Fictitious Lady (Flying Spur).

Our Fiction’s second foal Win Here Win There (Dehere) won three races in Sydney before Ottavio sold her to John Camilleri’s Fairway Thoroughbreds.  John bred one foal from her and sent her to Snitzel in 2007 before selling her back in foal to Ottavio for $60,000 at the 2008 Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale.

Win Here Win There boards at Glastonbury Farm and has an attractive yearling filly by Snitzel – a lookalike for Malavio at the same stage, according to Ottavio.  The mare is due to foal to Snitzel for the third time next month.

Win Here Win There has two other fillies in training:  She’s A Girl (Bold Expectation) who will carry the Galletta colours in her seasonal debut at Newcastle next week and Shengli (Choisir), sold for $160,000 at the 2013 Inglis Australian Easter Sale and now in training with Paul Messara.