Italian breeding

It doesn't take too deep a dive into the pedigree of Northern Dancer to understand the Italian influence in so many racehorses in training these days. Italy's significance in the annals of racing and breeding history reaches beyond Nearco of course, but in recent years there has been a very real fear that the country is losing its place in the Thoroughbred world order.  Indeed, its black-type races have been gradually downgraded. The Derby Italiano and Oaks d'Italia lost Group 1 status in 2009 and 2007 respectively, and Italy lost...

Today, May 1, marks the 70th anniversary of the death of Federico Tesio, who will always be remembered for his massive contribution to the development of the Thoroughbred. 'Breeder of Nearco and Ribot' is probably the description most frequently applied to him, but in truth that hardly scratches the surface of the life of a true titan of the turf. Facts and dates are an important part of any historical record. The facts of Tesio's racing life as breeder, owner and trainer are written boldly in the form book, and...