A €5 million investment for the new racecourse

Two plans for the new racecourse welcomed those who came to the “Bettole” clubhouse, in Varese; the occasion was just right. The “Provincia di Varese” Prize usually brings the political leaders to the races, but on this occasion, the President of the Province, Dario Galli, was not present, and neither was the Mayor of Varese, Attilio Fontana, who must surely have had something to say, considering that the “Bettole” racecourse is owned by the council and is licensed to the company SVICC. But at least the top managers of CDO (a company that provides business services) were all there.

Guido Borghi, the chairman of SVICC, is an attentive host. He welcomed his guests and explained the details of the project in full: a 1200m, right-hand trotting course (50m longer than the one in Turin), with a slightly uphill finish (“which makes it more competitive”), a 110m x 70m riding field, with stands (“where cabaret and music concerts can also take place”), 100 horseboxes and 45 places for the vans that transport the horses, a covered riding school, a trial field, and two underpasses, with lifts for the disabled. The visual impact will be zero, because all of the new constructions will be underground; the total cost is expected to be €5 million.

“The racecourse is the property of the town,” said Borghi, “and after this investment, it will remain so. This is one way of supporting horse racing, which can’t do it alone.”

At a distance of about thirty metres, there are the old and glorious stables in Via Galdino, the property of SVICC. The new project for the “Bettole” racecourse does not include them, as, from next autumn, the horses and trainers will no longer be able to stay there, and will have to move to the new Castelverde training centre in Caravate, a move that sparked off “a war” of official letters and ultimatums, which has now been going on for months. However, the trainers do not want to leave Via Galdino, and to resolve the matter, they have asked Guido Melzi D’Eril of HippoGroup, the racing network 5 companies that manage racecourses, including the “Bettole”, to mediate.

The “Provincia di Varese” Prize, which is run over 1600m on grass, was won by Roiangel, ahead of Tout le mond and Martilzo. “The horses that train at Castelverde continue to win,” said Borghi during the award ceremony, “a sign that they train well there.”

Immediately afterwards, there was the “Giovanni Castiglioni” Prize, an important handicap for three-year old horses. Yaki Mahora, the horse trained by Marco Gonnelli, one of the three dissenting trainers who have their headquarters in the stables in Via Galdino, won with a wonderful surge on the home stretch; credit goes also to the apprentice jockey, Cristian Demuro, the brother of the more famous Italian top jockey Mirko. And after thanking the gifted rider, Gonnelli placed the beautiful glass cup in his daughter’s arms, before going to drink a toast with his jockeys. His parting comment, aimed at Borghi, who turned his back to him, was, “My horse won, but doesn’t train at Castelverde.”

The feeling is that the “war” over the Via Galdino stables will continue well after the “Provincia di Varese” Prize.