Regoli Dynasty Remembered with Pair of Races at San Siro

[Wandering Eyes]

Dr Paolo Romanelli, the founder of Ital-Cal Horse Management, might live roughly 5,000 miles from Milan in Florida nowadays, but a small piece of his heart will always remain in the vicinity of the San Siro Racetrack which, on Saturday, will host races run in memory of Romanelli's grandfather and mother.

Romanelli himself was a native of Pisa, before his move Stateside, but his mother, Maria Luisa Regoli, once lived across the street from the San Siro Racetrack in the surrounds of what was then a thriving training operation.

The facility, described by Romanelli as a “masterpiece of Italian architecture”, was a passion project for powerful owner Giuseppe de Montel, who made his fortune first as a silk entrepreneur and then as a banker. At a time when the great Federico Tesio was an all-conquering force in Italian racing, de Montel soon brought in Romanelli's grandfather, Luigi Regoli, to oversee his burgeoning operation with terrific results.

“De Montel was a visionary owner-breeder,” says Romanelli. “Because of his passion for horse racing, he asked Paolo Vietti-Violo, one of the most famous architects at the time, to build this beautiful stable. In 1937, he hired my grandfather as a private trainer and he had between 100-120 horses in the stable. Together they won some big races, including the Derby [Italiano] with Orsenigo and the Gran Premio di Milano with Macherio. A lot of people think that, if it wasn't for the war, Orsenigo could have won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

“Unfortunately, because of his Jewish origin, de Montel left Italy at the beginning of the war. He donated the stable to a charity managed by a congregation of nuns but, because of the maintenance expenses, the charity was unable to keep the stable. It was left unkept and run down. Every time I went to the races [at San Siro], I went to look at the place, because my mum grew up there when she was going to high school in Milan. I was very emotionally attached.”

Thankfully, there has been a happy outcome for this site which holds such a special place in Romanelli's heart. Last April, it was inaugurated as a spa, De Montel Terme Milano, with many of the original features being kept intact. Fittingly, the spa will sponsor one of the feature races on Saturday's card, the Listed Premio Giuseppe de Montel, run over seven furlongs for two-year-olds.

“The spa spent €52 million and completely revamped the stable,” says Romanelli, before explaining how two more of Saturday's contests–the Premio Luigi Regoli and Premio Maria Luisa Regoli–came to be named after his dear family members.

“I have a brother in Italy who is a professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pisa. He is also the director of multiple thermal spas in Italy, so he was able to introduce me to the directors of the De Montel Terme Milano. And I grew up in Pisa with the now-director of the San Siro Racetrack, Lorenzo Stoppini, who is a very good friend.

“I put together a commercial relationship between the track and the spa with already wonderful outcomes, with horse owners going to the spa with discounts and spa clients invited to the Turf Club at San Siro.

“After this I called Lorenzo and I said, 'Lorenzo, I put together a nice agreement between the spa and the racetrack, could I have two races named after my grandfather and my mum, the same day of the [Premio Giuseppe] de Montel?'. He agreed and now we have a colts' race for my grandfather and a fillies' race for my mum.”

He continues, “I am offering two trophies to the owners of the winners. One of them was made by my good friend Nina Kaiser, an equine artist who did the life-size statues of John Henry and Zenyatta for Santa Anita. And, together with some friends, I also own a stallion in France called Keiai Nautique. He is by Deep Impact and was a Group 1 winner in Japan. So, for the winner of the fillies' race [the Premio Maria Luisa Regoli], I'm going to offer a free nomination in 2026 to Keiai Nautique.”

Romanelli himself will be represented in the Premio Luigi Regoli by Biscayne Blaze (Yoshida), who will sport the colours–red body with blue sleeves–which were once those of Regoli himself. Like the site of de Montel's former stables, the silks too have had a facelift, after Romanelli commissioned a special set by the famous fashion designer, Renato Balestra.

Sadly, Romanelli is unable to make it to Milan on Saturday, but he'll be watching on fondly from afar as he does his own bit to uphold the legacy started by his great-grandfather, Luigi Regoli Sr.

A former training partner of Tesio, Luigi Sr had two other sons, Federico and Antonio, both of whom were also hugely successful trainers. Previously, Federico won the Derby Italiano eight times in his spell as first jockey to the man he was named after, Tesio, before providing the Regoli dynasty with arguably its most significant victory when he trained the 1933 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, Crapom.

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