Oh, if only Joe Faraldo knew how many times he had to go around on the half mile track in a mile and a quarter race perhaps he could have won two races Friday at Cesena and boosted the U.S.A.’s chances to at least make things closer in the Italian-American Challenge. But thank goodness for Tony Verruso and Alan Schwartz yelling out “Joe, we got a another round to go,” did Joe start to drive again before pulling up thinking he had won”.
In the end the very heavy favourite driven by one of the three Italian champions they threw at the Americans, just buggy rode past a newly awakened Faraldo who ended up second” said Alan Schwartz who garnered the show dough in that contest.
But Faraldo’s mistake was indeed costly. But truthfully, no one was beating the Italian champion even with a faultless drive. Verruso and Ciuffetelli faced a wall of blocking Italians who demonstrated the art of team racing and how to measure points.
In the next race, at a one mile distance, Joe once again found the front with “Only One Diamond” and he backed into every challenger over a measured first half and then poured on the gas for a faster last half to win for the second time in the six-race USA-Italy Challenge. Tony Verruso, the Billings capo, finished third after a little traffic trouble.
All in all, the lost ground on day one couldn’t be made up but the American team was valiant in their efforts in the last four races of the challenge.
“The Italians put a hurtin' on us early as we got acclimated to their driving style and we had to wade through the myriad of detailed instructions” said Alan Schwartz, the American with the most wins of any U.S. competing amateur today.
After all was said and done, the Italians, from Moretti, Ruffato, Zorretto, the brothers Mecheloto and Stefano De Lano could not have been more understanding and accommodating to their American friends.
Touring Venice and Padova, a trip to the most famous Scuderia of the Biasuzzi , to the he most enjoyable lunches and dinners at some of the finest restaurants in the Veneto region, especially the Villa Italia, in Padova the Italians treated their visitors like royalty sparing no expense to make team America feel most welcome just as the French had recently for a team of Americans in May.
The intent now is to have the Italians come to America, perhaps around the time of the famed Hambletonian in August of 2018 for a rematch and hopefully for America, some final revenge.
Truly making friends abroad, cultivating interest in our product and hoping to see a renaissance in Italy’s harness racing as well as worldwide, takes work nothing else suffices. Many of the Italians are still interested in American blood and also wish to see the books of America and France opened for the betterment of the sport.
“When you hear Italian or other languages spoken at a U.S. sale, like Harrisburg or Lexington, remember these are people who love our sport and in Italy they are demonstrating much patience and love for the sport as you can see from the note below, and how they are all coping with a less than ideal situation,” said Joe Faraldo.
An interesting aside to the Italian trip concerns the Hippodromo (racetrack in Padova ) which because of the government’s pull back of support for the industry, initially was just shut down. But then after three years it reopened with a disco open every evening with live music to attract young people despite racing only two days a week. On those two days the food at the track is free, but for drinks you must pay. There is outdoor seating with umbrellas at each table and areas some for children to play. As one might imagine attendance is up and so is wagering. In short, the track has been resurrected from the dead.
The government still has the industry in a state of limbo and the horsemen have to wait seven months to get paid purse money and there’s always the chance in Italy that it might never happen. Like horsemen all over the world who keep this game going, those in Italy are survivors, because they truly love this sport."
In Cesana, the track was so soft and perfect for the horses, not so much just for the timer. One could not hear these beautiful animals as they navigated this half mile oval near the sea. While we will not be there Saturday evening we are told the place is sold out. Apparently they are still doing some things very, very right.