Torquato Tasso

The 152nd G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, set to be run on Sunday, Sept. 4, has attracted an international entry of 48 horses, including the defending champion and Arc hero Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). The German champion is joined on the list by last year's runner-up, the 2021 Deutsches Derby winner Sisfahan (Fr) (Isfahan {Ger}), as well as recent Baden-Baden Group 2 winner Alter Adler (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). A strong overseas entry for the 2,400m contest at Iffezheim includes last year's Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) ((Frankel {GB})...

The name of the wonderful and deserving winner of the 2021 Arc De Triomphe worries me. Why the letter 'R' at the end of the first noun? No-final-R Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) was another Italian poet who thought as big as Hollywood and wrote incredibly long epic poems about knights in shining armors and their girlfriends, like his (better) predecessor Ludovico Ariosto. I have asked a few Teutonic friends if "Torquator" means anything technical, colloquial or otherwise in German, to no avail. So word play is out. Do only impressionable and...