San Rossore Racecourse

The racetrack at San Rossore (called Prato degli Escoli) was traced in 1829 by Leopold II of Lorraine and the first official race took place on April 3nd 1854. In 2004 the 150th anniversary of this event was celebrated. The most prestigious race held at the San Rossore racetrack is the Premio Pisa a 1500 meter long Listed Race reserved to 3 year old horses. On the same day of the Premio Pisa there is also the Premio Regione Toscana a Limited Handicap race reserved to female horses of 4 or more years on the demanding distance of 2.200 meters. In 1998 the Criterium di Pisa was reinstated in the race program with a new collocation in mid December. After the success of the first editions of this “new race”, in 2002, the Criterium was raised to the status of Listed Race. It is a 1500 meter long race reserved to two year old horses. The first edition took place in 1885.
In addition, in 2003 San Rossore had two new Listed Races for 4 year old horse: the Premio Andred (over 2.000 metres) and the Premio Federico Regoli (over 1.500 metres).

Technical Characteristics

Circular grass course with a length of about 1660 meters and a width of 32 meters, the straight stretches are 530 meters long and the bends have a radius of 85 meters. The course is equipped with two chutes which increase the straight stretches by 120 meters and which are used for the 1500 and 2200 meter long races. As of fall 2003 the internal circular course is also used for certain races. The course for obstacle races, situated on the inside of the circular course, has the shape of an eight, is 15 meters wide and 1474 meters long considering only the external circular course. The total length instead, including the two diagonals respectively 265 and 315 meters long and 25 meters wide, is of 1527 meters. There is also a hurdle course and a steeple chase course with the following obstacles: hurdles, blocked hurdles, open ditch, oxer, talus, fence, wall and water jump. The course is equipped with an automatic irrigation system on its entire surface. There are both covered and open stands for the public with a total capacity is of about 10,000 seats. The racetrack also has a closed circuit color television system which allows the direct filming and the showing of the races. Thanks to the tote it is possible to place bets on races also those going on at other racetracks (Simulcasting). The state of the bets (with the indication of the relative odds) can be observed by the public on a specific monitor. The facilities for the public include a restaurant, 4 snack bars, a playground, a nursery, an Automatic Teller Machine and a large parking area.

The Climate at San Rossore

The climate at Barbaricina is typically Mediterranean with scarce annual precipitations and average annual temperatures around 15 degrees centigrade. The seasonal distribution of rainfall in Pisa, Viareggio and Livorno (these three locations “surround” the San Rossore area to the North, East and South), underlines the scarcity of rainfall especially during the winter. In this season in fact rainfall is registered at 250mm distributed over a relatively small number of days (25/26). The variation in average monthly temperatures also underlines the “mildness” of the winter months in the Pisa area. The minimum average temperature over a period of ten days never goes below 0° C while the maximum average temperature over a period of ten days only exceptionally rises above 30° C. Even the minimum daily temperature of the winter period rarely drops below minus 2/4 ° C. favoring the regular proceeding of all horse related activities ( breeding, training and actual races). Another extremely important aspect which characterizes the San Rossore-Barbaricina area is the exceptional composition of the terrain on which both the racetrack and the training courses have been traced. The entire area in fact is characterized by surfaces which have a high concentration of sand with scarce quantities of miry materials and an almost complete absence of clay. This particular composition of the soil requires a careful use of irrigation water during the summer but creates an ideal “base” for all horse related activities during the fall/winter period. During this period in fact the little rain which does fall is easily absorbed by both the sand and the grass courses which can therefore be used basically every day of the year.