New course for the Fondo Italiano dell’Allevamento, the reference association for owners of thoroughbred stallions since 1985. After 30 years of presidency by Marquis Annibale Brivio Sforza, to whom we owe a great commitment in keeping the association alive and who was conferred the title of Honorary President, a few days ago, 90 years after the birth of the stallion Nearco and on the 40th anniversary of the association’s foundation the elective assembly of the FIA proclaimed Mattia Cadrobbi as the new president and appointed the Board of Directors, which also includes Guido Berardelli (delegate to represent the FIA on the Board of the Associazione Nazionale Galoppo, of which the FIA is a founding member), Dr. Marina Monassi (owner of the stallion Nearco), Dr. M. M. M. M. M. (owner of the stallion Nearco) and Dr. M. M. M. M. M. M. (owner of the stallion Nearco). ssa Marina Monassi (stallion owner), lawyer Romina Pinna (stud station owner) and
Dr. Alessandra Vigliani (manager of Ticino Bloodstock). The latter will hold the role of vice-president. The management of the technical secretariat has instead been entrusted to Franco Castelfranchi, who has always been the guardian of many other association initiatives and a guarantee of technical credibility also at the European Breeders Fund.
The new course of the FIA has already called for the reinstatement of Italy among the member countries of the European Breeders Fund (the others are France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland) and now aims at a gradual but immediate return to the EBF circuits, of which Italy and the FIA have been members in the past. For 40 years the fulcrum of Italian stud activity (its founding president was Vittorio Riva, whose militancy with the Diamante and Elvi stables resulted in champions of the calibre of Red Girl, Red Rocket, Miss Carina and the derbywinner Red Arrow), the FIA currently has an active
active membership (from membership 2025) which, with over 58%, represents the majority of the
coverage by Italian breeding in 2024.
The EBF, which currently has John O’Connor as its president, was launched in 1983 with a simple initial objective: to increase the value of maiden racing for 2-year-old horses, thanks to the income generated by supporting stallion owners and breeders with the ‘registration’ of stallions and their progeny. Since then, the EBF has contributed more than 140 million euros to the prize money of races in Europe: it currently provides an average annual increase of 6 million euros, sponsorship also covers non-EBF member countries (Czech Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Hungary) and includes racing ‘circuits’ with finals worth more than 100,000 pounds or euros.
