PICCIONI (ALFEA): 12 NEW APPRENTICE JOCKEYS WERE TRAINED IN PISA

Last week the professional training for ‘Artiere Allievo Fantino’ (apprentice jockey) organised by the Alfea company of San Rossore (Pisa) in collaboration with the Region of Tuscany and in particular with the Department of Education and obviously with the patronage of MASAF, came to an end. Eleven young people have already qualified as apprentice jockeys (a 12th will be arriving after a small physical problem). It's a great success considering that such an initiative has been lacking for about eight years. And in the past, the apprentice jockey school in Pisa has produced some very important names on the world gallop scene. Just think of Umberto Rispoli who has been living in the United States for quite some time, where he currently lives and works, but who has also won in Japan; Cristian Demuro, now based in Chantilly, who has already won the Arc de Triomphe twice; Antonio Fresu, who lives and works in California, after having long dominated the Dubai seasons and was even recently the ’ testimonial’ of the Santa Anita Derby; Alberto Sanna, multiple winner of Group races all over the world, currently a highly esteemed professional in Qatar. And how can we forget that since the last course in 2016, a certain Dario Di Tocco has emerged, current Italian champion jockey and winner of last year's Italian Derby.
To give an exact idea of what it represents, it's worth mentioning some figures from the San Rossore Horse Racing School, founded in 1998 by Alfea in collaboration with the provincial administration (the then councillor Antonio Melani). The subsequent editions of the course for apprentice jockeys have achieved true excellence, which can be summarised in these numbers: 78.8% of the students are currently working as artisans or jockeys; 12.5% are working in the horse racing sector; 95% of the students have made their debut in racing and 18.8% have won at least one Grand Prix.

In short, for Emiliano Piccioni, General Manager of Alfea, there are good reasons to be satisfied...
"It was very important to be able to restore the professional training which, it should be remembered, was the brainchild of Stefano Meli who had founded the school by taking advantage of courses in the province and trying (successfully) to win the relevant tenders. I must say that at the time we had put together a good group of teachers. Then, with the transfer of the relevant responsibilities to the Tuscany Region in 2010, the trend was interrupted. We made an attempt in 2015/2016 in total autonomy without funding, yet we managed to bring out important people like Di Tocco and Saiu, also asking for services on an almost voluntary basis, out of friendship. It's clear that, with the continued absence of funding, we had to stop, but on that occasion we still managed to demonstrate that even with little you could manage to do something...‘

But you tried again...
’Last year we found a new sensitivity in the Tuscany Region, thanks also to Councillor Alssandra Nardini. The Region has in fact allocated almost a million euros to a programme dedicated to the world of horses. Equestrian tourism has been involved, farriery courses have been held. These include a training course for artisans involved in the care, training and welfare of horses. At that point we set up a partnership with a training agency and we won the tender. We started just before the summer holidays, on 5th August, we selected 27 young people, who then became 15, and 12 of them completed the course, which consisted of 600 hours of classroom lessons and 300 hours of internships at stables, including some important ones: in Rome, Grizzetti in the north, Gonnelli in Pisa. From this point of view we also had to overcome some resistance from the Region because they wanted the internships to be done exclusively in Tuscany, but in the end we managed to make them understand the logistical difficulties that this would have entailed. Now the young people have obtained the European professional qualification of jockey apprentice and from Masaf they have received recognition for the qualification of jockey pupil which has allowed them to sign riding contracts. We are working on organising a debut race on 17th April, on the last day of the season, which would also be a worthy closing of the circle. Among other things, I know that the Undersecretary La Pietra would also like to have a kind of public ceremony... We'll see. ‘

Will there be other courses?
’I don't know. It obviously depends on the funds. Councillor Nardini was favourably impressed by what we did. We also overcame the usual diffidence that accompanies the horse racing sector. I reckon they've asked us to organise a course for stable managers involved in equitourism. It's not related to our sector, but it's an outlet and in any case everything to do with the world of horses is always well regarded by us. Of course it would be important for continuity that in the budget of Masaf we could find 30/40 thousand euros to finance the courses at least in part..."

Let's talk about the San Rossore business. The end of the season is approaching... can we already draw a balance?
It's been a season of light and shade. For three years (2022/23 and 24) we were definitely on an upward trend with all the numbers growing. This season saw a good first part until December in terms of attendance, we had some problems with the track due to the rain, but we managed. Unfortunately, 2025 is penalising us in terms of the weather. When it rains, obviously we can only count on the purely horse racing public and it must be said that in recent weeks the weather has often been bad, especially at weekends. It's true that there's little we can do about the weather. But considering this penalty, we can say that we are still satisfied with what we have done."

There's still the Sunday of the “Pisa”... what kind of day will it be?
We know that from a technical point of view, unfortunately, the Pisa Prize and the Tuscany Region have been downgraded. It's a trend that is very difficult, if not impossible, to fight. However, it remains a celebration of the territory and a day of great attention for horse racing and for gallop racing in particular. We have many requests for participation on the stands and in the hospitality area. It's a shame that it coincides with the other horse racing event in Turin for trotting, but there is also a ‘European’ situation to deal with and so we have to make the best of a bad situation. We hope that at least the television coverage of the event days will be confirmed, as in previous years. In terms of entertainment, weather permitting, which is something we're all crossing our fingers for, it will be a great day. We have organised lots of side events that will certainly entertain the public who come to the racecourse."

Let's finish with a general discussion. In recent weeks the debate about horse racing has been raging, also on our pages. There is much talk of ‘downsizing the activity of some racecourses, including San Rossore. What do you think about it?
’When I arrived, Pisa had 52 days in a year. Now we are between 40 and 44. In short, it seems to me that there has been a significant reduction in activity. I think that at least a couple of aspects need to be considered. The first is that in the San Rossore training centre there are about 500 horses that we have to give the opportunity to run. Now the winter season is the one that it is with Florence closed, Livorno too and it's not like everyone can go running in Follonica. If these conditions change, we might be able to talk about a different distribution. Then it must be said that the activity in the winter months is purely that of minimum races and it's not as if we can go to races in Milan or Rome (when they are open) and face significant expenses that are difficult for a certain range of horses to amortise.
The other aspect concerns racecourses and the conventional relationship. In the past, the motto was ‘the less you run, the less you spend for the same revenue’ (once we got past the concept of seasonality, editor's note). Today we're going in the opposite direction and this too will have to be taken into account when organising the activity, even from a national perspective."