The training facilities are embedded
among cypresses and vineyards in a har-
mony of aesthetic and practical purpose.
Three dense, springy turf gallops and
two of natural sand are surrounded by
shady woods, where around 50 horses in
training can warm up and cool down in
an environment somewhat evocative of
Chantilly. One staff member, marvelling
at the family's devotion, reckons as many
as 175 horses—between pensioned and
breeding stock, maturing foals, and race-
horses—might be dispersed in this tran-
quil setting.
But the Marchese recalls the abiding
principle of the old master as the very
o p posite of quantity. "Tesio's lesson?
A l ways to look for quality," he says. "If
Tesio liked a horse and liked its pedigree,
he wouldn't put a limit on the price. He'd
invest as much as anyone else at that time,
when he went over to Newmarket to the
sales. Today it would be more difficult.
"Plenty of people have now turned hors-
es into a business instead. And they pour
so much money into it. It's very difficult to
compete with Coolmore or oil dollars. It's
more like paying alimony! I think maybe
I've been a little wiser, to try to produce
wine more than horses…"
"I think if you have good
terroir,
IT'S PROBABLY EASIER TO
MAKE GOOD WINE THAN TO BREED A
GOOD RACEHORSE."
