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. ♦ Italy . - Razza Ticino En joys Good Fortune Again By DESMOND McGOWAN . Our Rome Correspondent ROME, Italy. — Competition is the life-blood of the sport, and the change of fortune now being experienced by the Razza Ticino Ticino is is an an encourag- . Ticino Ticino is is an an encourag- encouraging sign to all interested in bloodstock breeding in this country. This great stable and stud was founded by the late Giuseppe de Montel just before World War I., and the foundations of its success were laid when the yearlings Hollebeck and Havresac II. were imported ported from from France. France. ported from from France. France. Hollebeck became the dam of the great Ortello, and Havresac II. was to become the * greatest sire in the history of Italian racing. After the death in 1944 of Giuseppe de Montel, the whole .of his stud and horses in training came up for sale. Fears that some of the finest bloodlines in Italy might go abroad were set at rest when the wealthy lady industrialist Signora Bianca Verga bought the de Montel interests — lock, stock and barrel. Better known as an owner of trotters, under the title pf Ticino Stable, Signora Verga named her new acquisition Razza Ticino, and set about restoring this great stud to its former proud position. For a time matters ran smoothly, and immediately after the war such good horses as Arson, Oise, -Orvieto, Mezzegra, Verdun, etc., kept the pot boiling, but in the last three years the stablehas been in the doldrums and nothing seemed to go right until the big public trainer Mario Benetti took over the running of the horses a couple of -months ago. * Since then new life seems to have been injected into the stable and Razza Ticino has become the biggest challenger to the supremacy enjoyed by Razza Dormello-Olgiata. The three-year-old Seaulieu takes on Braque in Sundays Gran Premio diMilano, and the race, once thought to be in the nature of a walkover for the Dor-nello colt, has attracted renewed interest. In addition to Seaulieu, Mario Benetti saddles Dr. Carlo Vitadinis Etrusque and Fert Stables Persio. Etrusque, it will be remembered, finished second to Braque in the Gran Premio dltalia, half a length in front of Seaulieu, who was running on a hurried preparation. French interests can be represented by Koje, second, to Tissot in the Premio Roma, Polar and Oroso, but we expect the finish to be fought out between Braque, Seaulieu and Etrusque, and expect them to finish in-that order. In the two-year-old field, Razza Ticino has the leading colt at the moment, and, after his/ impressive win in the Premio DeHAvvenire a fortnight ago, Seaulieus half-brother Sedan confirmed his promise by winning the five-furlong ,500* Premio Bimbi at San Siro today. His most dangerous rival appeared to be Razza La.Giuggi- v olas colt Ardmore, who had won the Premio Giuseppe de Montel the previous week, but, after showing early speed, the latter faded out after half-way and finished last of five runners. The winners time of 1:02 was an indication of the state of the track, and, though he did not relish the "off" going, Sedan proved himself a top colt by the way he held off the challenge of the filly Tex-oma in the final furlong. Sedan took up the running at the three-furlong pole, but Texoma, whose jockey, Trappolini, had her racing wide of the others, brought the white-faced filly over to challenge, and they had a great race home for Sedan to win by a neck. Signor Ettore Tagliabues French-bred Grunewald II., was was slowly away, finished third, and will be winning shortly. ROMAN FORUM: As forecast in this column, Razza del Soldo has sold the fonr-year-old Magabit to the Argentine owner Ezequiel Fernandez Guerrico. Magabit leaves Genoa for Argentina this week and will take up stud duties at Haras Argentino, where the Hyperion horse Gulf Stream is stationed. . . . The Soldo also has sold the three-year-old Alimpo, and Fedciico Regoli appears to be going in for wholesale culling of his present racing stock— and not too soon, if he is to break -the ring of ill fortune which seems to be surrounding the stable this .season. . . There are hopeful signs that Italy might be represented in the Washington, D C International this fall. One or two owners already have notified the writer that they would be willing to accept an invitation should their horses be considered good enough. This is welcome news, in view of the closed-shop, policy of one or two prominent stables.
