ITALIAN born entrepreneur Riccardo Pisaturo AM, known as Ric, may have been featured earlier in The Land at various stages during his beef cattle breed-shaping endeavours.
But in recent times the western Sydney resident discovered a new love - thoroughbreds.
Recently I was fortunate to have caught up with the spritely 96-year-old at his home of Mandalong Park – a property where he keeps a small number of thoroughbred breeding mares and young stock, and which is a region becoming surrounded by Sydney’s fast moving urban sprawl.
Arriving in Australia as a prisoner of war, Ric overcame adversity to build a cattle empire (creating new breeds Mandalong Specials, Square Meaters, and Tropicana), which earned him an Order Of Australia Medal in 1990.
According to Ric, while he still operates other investments, his thoroughbreds are his favourite.
An avenue of olive trees line the 200 metres driveway of Mandalong Park to the homestead, which reflects the European heritage of Ric’s youth in Italy.
His property name also lends itself to many of his thoroughbred horses namely Mandalong Annie, Mandalong Queen, Mandalong Special, Mandalong Catatac, Mandalong Royal, Mandalong Jenny, Mandalong Belle, Mandalong Rambo, Mandalong Ranche, and Mandalong Vampire being among Ric’s earlier racehorses.
The latter is a Dracula gelding, and was among Ric’s first winners in 2007 as a breeder and owner.
“So far we (with trainer Gary Nickson) have won 11 races,” Ric said.
“We (Gary) are great friends.”
A long time successful Sydney trainer, Gary handles some of the young stock at Mandalong before preparing them to race from his Warwick Farm racecourse training base.
Mandalong Nicko, Mandalong Emperor, Mandalong One Up, Mandalong Pins, Mandalong Sera, Mandalong Ready, Mandalong Kiss and Mandalong Tapit are among more recent young horses that were bred or purchased by Ric to race.
Mandalong One Up and Mandalong Tapit are both by champion US sire Tapit (a great grandson of great US racer Seattle Slew), a handsome grey sire son of deceased champion Pulpit, and which Ric has taken a liking to.
“In the last three years he (Tapit) has been the leading sire in America, and his fee is $US350,000, so I thought I will try (this stallion),” he said.
“So I paid $700,000 for the first one (Tapit yearling to be sold) in Australia, while another (yearling) I paid only $200,000.”
Two-year-old Tapit colt, Mandalong Tapit broke his maiden status when winning at Newcastle in March, before running an excellent race when sixth in the ATC Fernhill Handicap-LR at Randwick on the first day of recent The Championships.
Italian born entrepreneur Riccardo Pisaturo overcame adversity to build a cattle empire (creating new breeds Mandalong Specials, Square Meaters, and Tropicana), which earned him an Order Of Australia Medal in 1990.
Ric is also proud of his home bred daughter Mandalong Kiss (by former US bred shuttler War Pass).
“She has a tremendous finish; the longer the better she goes; she won three city races with two records,” he said.
“But I do like Pierro very much – I used to follow Pierro when he raced. His breed is going very well now,” said Ric.
So much is Ric’s love of Pierro that he is sending five mares to Pierro in the 2018 stud season.
Earlier times for Riccardo Pisaturo
Ric sailed into Sydney Harbour aboard the legendary luxury liner Queen Mary as a prisoner of war in the early 1940s, boarded a train (along with hundreds of other men) to Hay, before landing in Cowra six months later.
During his internment prisoners could apply to work on farms, Ric taking the opportunity where it landed him on the Reay Badgery owned and operated “Wongonbra” at Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands.
He thanks Mr Badgery for numerous skills and horsemanship learned and who saw that the hard-working Ric had a dream to have his own property one day.
“Mr Badgery loved horses, so I think that is where my love of horses began,” he said.
The 1946 Melbourne Cup winner Russia played a memorable part of Ric’s early life.
“Just before, I dreamt that Russia would win the (Melbourne) Cup,” he said.
“I had won a lot of cigarettes from playing poker and sold them for two shillings.
“I then asked a guard I knew well to put the two shillings on Russia – because I dreamt it, and he just laughed,” said a chuckling Ric.
However, Ric was rewarded and was returned with 32 shillings.
“But I didn’t like camp life, so I scurried (escaped) and I was 12 months on the lose,” Ric said with a laugh.
“I went to Sydney and I got a job on a market garden at St Ives.
“Then later immigration asked for any prisoners at large to give yourself up, so I did, and was sent back home (to Italy).
Knowing of Ric’s hard work ethic and determination, Mr Badgery sponsored the young man’s return permanently to Australia.
Bounce forward to today, Ric is onto his next phase in life with his “Mandalong” Thoroughbreds.
A remarkable story. “Australia, My Love” is Ric’s autobiography and was published in 2010.