In 1898 one of the first and most important stables was founded, paving the way for all modern breeding: Federico Tesio’s Dormello-Olgiata breed. The “Wizard of Dormello” brought great champions – still remembered today – to the most prestigious races, including those held on the gallop tracks of San Siro. A stable owner, breeder and trainer, but also a scholar and a lover of art and science, Tesio learned the delicate work of selecting mares and stallions in the field.

Tesio’s passion for horse racing took in the studies by Darwin and Mendel on the inheritance of genetic traits, but more than anything else it was experiments in crossbreeding horses that led to the success of the Dormello breed.

Genealogical studies on harness racing were systematised starting from the 1920s, thanks in particular to Count Paolo Orsi Mangelli (1880-1977). He soon understood that the fundamental aspects to raise a champion were genealogy and performance on the track, and accordingly studied all specialised publications with family trees and race results. His studies on genealogy took shape on his stud farm. The first “guests” were about fifteen mares, while he later began to import American champions, because at that time the trotters bred in the US were the fastest in the world.

When Count Paolo Orsi Mangelli supported the establishment of an institution that could organise, manage and control races and farms, Federico Tesio grasped the importance of the initiative and was among its most involved collaborators. A “Royal Decree” in 1932 established the UNIRE (Unione nazionale incremento razze equine, the National Union for the Increase of Equine Breeds), which encouraged the breeding and improvement of equine breeds for competition, particularly Italian trotters and English thoroughbreds.

The thoroughbred is the fastest and most prestigious equine breed in the world. It dates back, in all probability, to the 18th century when three stallions of Arab origin were imported into England and would prove fundamental: Byerley Turk, Darnley Arabian and Godolphin. The crossbreeding of indigenous Anglo-Saxon mares and beyond with the three stallions blended endurance and speed to provide an elite breed. For this reason, the great Federico Tesio liked to define thoroughbreds as “the most perfect of bastards”.

HISTORICAL PRINTS AND IMAGES

THE GREAT GALLOPERS OF MILAN

IMAGES OF THE GREAT STARS

HISTORICAL PRINTS AND IMAGES

THE GREAT TROTTERS OF MILAN

IMAGES OF THE GREAT STARS

Horses and harness and gallop races have always fascinated artists of all eras. Diverse examples of pictures and graphics have been found in the San Siro Racecourses Archive, depicting various horses with different techniques and styles.