Emilio Rosati is one of those people youusually can’t miss when he enters a room. He’sa robust figure with a commanding presenceyet he was virtually anonymous last Novemberat the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complexdespite buying one of the highest priced horsesin the sale.

Rosati signed the sales slip for hip number67, the Rocknroll Hanover half-sister to the topthree-year-old of the year in North America WellSaid. One cannot usually buy a Standardbredhorse anywhere in the world for $300,000 with-out some scrutiny but Rosati seemed to. Shortlyafter the purchase he was on his way back toSydney and for the most part no one at the salewas much the wiser.

But that is Rosati’s way. He is his own manwith his own very distinct ideas that do notrequire the approval or permission of anyone.

At age 64 he is the driving force behindForm 700, one of Australia’s leading constructioncompanies. With a staff of 750 he has built someof the country’s major landmarks including theaward winning Melbourne Convention andExhibition Centre and the $250 million RoyalWomen’s Hospital in the same city.

“When there is any major project inAustralia, we’re one of the first people to get thecall to quote on the project,” he says proudly.

His success has allowed him to pursue hispassion for owning good horses. Today he gri-maces when he admits that he owns 54 head.

“I thought it was 40 but my wife, who paysthe bills on them, says it’s 54.”

Rosati’s life story is the stuff of movies. In1961 at the age of 16 he accompanied his familyto Australia from Italy. It was a journey he initial-ly did not want to make.

“My brother came to Australia in 1957. Italywas not in good shape at that time even thoughit was nearly 15 years after World War II. Myfather, who was a cabinet maker, wanted to finda better life for his family. He and my motherapplied to Canada, the United States andAustralia. We landed here because Australia wasthe first one to reply,” he explains.

“It was my father, mother, two sisters and I,but I did not want to come. We lived in a littletown called Lenola which is 110 kilometres southof Rome. I liked life there however after threemonths in Australia, I loved the place and adapt-ed very quickly.”

A MAN OF

NO EXCUSEEMILIO ROSATI has become a major force on the Australaracing scene and has also made some noise in North America along way. He is a man who makes things happen. By Harold Howe

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Driven by the hunger for a betterlife that characterized so many immi-grants of that era, Rosati left school andwent right to work labouring in a mat-tress factory and then for a toy manufac-turer. He then followed his calling tobecome a carpenter which required afive year apprenticeship.

The first signs of that entrepreneurbend in his makeup emerged upon com-pletion of the apprenticeship when heimmediately opened his own business.

“That lasted 18 months but did notwork out. So I went to work for a majorconstruction company in Sydney for two years before going to DolsonConstruction, which is still a large company. I began there as a foreman and25 years later was the manager of thatcompany,” he explains.

“Fifteen years ago it lost its way so Ileft and went to work for the companyStructural Systems for three years. Thatwas one of those places with far toomany chiefs drawing big money when itwas not necessary. Things came to a headand I left. The next day I went on my ownagain.”

Maria is Emilio’s wife. She is not ofItalian descent. She was born in Australiabut her parents came from the Ukraine.Emilio takes great pains to point out

what a large part of his life she is.“Maria, who I call Mary, has never,

ever been a problem for me in doinganything I wanted to do. When I quitStructural Systems we took a five weekholiday and then started Form 700.”

In effect, Emilio was setting up hisown company to compete directly withhis former employers. Hunger to succeed,an enormous capacity for work and anability to embrace new technology werethe strengths he carried into the fight.

“I was very well known in the con-struction industry. The only question thatcame up at the beginning was whetheror not I had the financing necessary totake on jobs and I did,” Emilio confirms.

“From the start I set about chang-ing things. I introduced some new tech-nology along with systems and ideas. Iwas never one to just accept things theway they were. I wanted to know howto improve things.”

The construction trade the worldover is much the same. It is not a gamefor little boys in short pants. The varioustrade unions are front and centre which

often makes life for the companies astruggle. But street-smart is a phrase thataccurately portrays Rosati who has madea reputation as a man who knows howto deal effectively with the unions.

He was also clever enough to recog-nize that he had to retain top peoplewhich was why he allowed two of hisapprentices to buy into the company.Today they are partners sharing in 50 percent ownership and with a white hoteconomy in Australia, business could notbe much better.

Which brings us to his interest inhorses.

“As far back as I can remember horses were a part of my life. My mother’sfamily were farmers in the mountains so Ihad uncles who loved the horses, I grewup around it,” he says.

“Harness racing was, and is, big inAustralia. I wanted to get a horse but itwas not until I was 37 or 38 that I couldafford to do it. I lost far more than I made.”

In the late 1970s Emilio and his wifedabbled in the breeding end of the gameand came up with a useful horse named

September 2010 • The Harness Edge

A MAN OF NO EXCUSES

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The star of the Rosatis' stable this season was the two-year-old Aces N Sevenscolt Excel Stride who won the $100,000 NSW Breeders Stake Final.

North AmericaTel (Chicago): +1 630 262 1221Tel (LA): +1 310 306 0262Tel (Miami) +1 305 444 8184UK & EuropeTel: +44 1638 66 8003

New Zealand Tel (Auckland): +64 9275 4002Australia Tel: +61 3 9699 2144

Stride High. He was a son of TarportLowe who was hardly a star but still man-aged nine wins while in their ownership.As a result they apply the Stride suffix toall of their horses’ names.

Emilio rates Dominator Stride, a sonof Armbro Operative who earned$194,000 in their ownership, as their bestto this point in time. In addition to 23wins, the horse was second in the$100,000 Vicbred Super Series final atthree and then third in the $100,000Kilmore Cup in 2004.

This season the star of the stable hasbeen Excel Stride, a homebred two-year-old Aces N Sevens colt. This colt won the$100,000 NSW Breeders Stake final overa distance of a mile at Harold Park atMenangle on June 27 defeating SushiSushi who finished second in theAustralasian Breeders Crown last month.

“He’s a very good colt and had it notbeen for the driver mucking up the drivein the Breeders Challenge we wouldhave been in the Breeders Crown final.”

The Rosatis do not have a farm oftheir own . . . yet. Their breeding stock isstabled with Alabar, Pepper Tree Farmand others and their racehorses arespread around to various stables as well.

Emilio notes that his trip to Americalast year that resulted in the purchase ofthe most expensive pacing filly to be soldat public auction has intrigued people.It’s an interesting tale.

“It was Mary who started it all. Shewanted us to buy a top colt but I saidthat at least with a filly if it does notwork out we can bring her home andbreed from her. A colt has no otheroption than to race.”

That strategy resulted in a trip toLexington, Kentucky for the LexingtonSelected Yearling Sale.

“I was shocked after a couple days.Things did not work out like I planned.The livestock was fantastic but it was thepeople I had a problem with. There weretwo consignors that . . . well, should notbe allowed in the breeding game in myopinion,” he says.

“Let’s just say it was a very bad expe-rience in what they tried to do to me andI grabbed Mary and we went right to theairport to come home. Things like I sawshould not be allowed.”

There was however one positiveaspect of the Kentucky trip and that wasthe chance meeting with New Yorkowner Skip Smith who races under thename W. Springtime Racing. Smith is bestknown for the great pacing filly BunnyLake, a winner of $3 million in purse win-nings and now has this year’s worldrecord setting filly Dancinwiththestarzp,3,1:48.4 ($725,302).

“I just happened to meet Skip thereand we hit it off. After everything hap-pened at the Lexington sale I told him Iwas going home. As I was getting readyto leave his trainer John Stark gave me acatalogue (The Black Book) for theHarrisburg sale to read on the plane.That’s how I found the sister to WellSaid,” he relates.

“I got off the plane in Aussie andcalled Skip right away to ask him if hecould look at her. He did and called meback a few days later saying she was alovely filly but it was going to cost some-one a lot of money to own her.”

Named Look And Listen, theRocknroll Hanover filly was the fourthfoal of the Artsplace mare Must See whoearned $562,000 during her racing careerwhich included winning the Sweetheartfinal at the Meadowlands as a two-year-old in 2002. Owned by breeder FairWinds Farm and Steve Jones, Must See isa full sister to $2.2 million winnerGlowing Report and $746,000 winnerPerfect Union.

“I thought about it and got back onthe plane a few weeks later to go to theHarrsiburg sale. I must say the people atthe sale treated me fantastic but I couldnot understand why it was so difficult for

me to pay for the filly after I bought her.It was three months and they just didn’tseem worried. Finally, they told me that Iwas the last of their worries, they hadother people which were far greaterproblems.”

Because of the relationship he hadforged with Smith, Rosati chose to leavethe filly in the care of John Stark atSaratoga Raceway in upstate New York.But in June Smith and Stark came to aparting of the ways and Smith’s horses andEmilio’s filly were all moved to the NewJersey stable of former Kiwi Mark Harder.

Now named Emilios Stride, theexpensive youngster has made two startsto date, winning her most recent atFreehold Raceway in an overnight eventin 1:58.

“She has qualified but is still grow-ing. She’s a big girl and may need sometime. But regardless of what she doesracing in North America she will come toAustralia at the end of her three-year-oldseason. She will be the foundation marefor our breeding operation.”

The Rosatis were not done afterthey made that purchase. They surfacedin February in New Zealand for theAustralasian Classic and New ZealandPremier Sales.

“We bought six in total to go alongwith four that we purchased in Australia.I love buying horses in New Zealandbecause they keep their best mares. InAustralia we are running out of goodmares,” says Rosati.

“The Kiwis are very smart peopleabout this. They continue to producesome really nice fillies and that interestsme. In the United States it was very clear

September 2010 • The Harness Edge

A MAN OF NO EXCUSES

“His trainer John Stark gave me a catalogue forthe Harrisburg sale to read on the plane. That’show I found the sister to Well Said. I got off theplane in Aussie and called Skip right away to askhim if he could look at her.”

Way To Go Frank!!An Outstanding Job!!!

SLAVE DREAMBr.g.5 Pearsall Hanover-Hungarie F – Cezio Josselyn

WINNER OF THE 2010 NAT RAY MEMORIAL

It’s been a long journey with Slave Dream but the unforgettable win in the Nat Ray Memorial made it all worthwhile.

Much of the credit must go to our trainer Frank O’Reilly who took over Slave Dream’s training one year ago. He believed in the horse and we believed in Frank. It will be a very long time before we forget August 7, 2010.

We also wish to thank John Campbell for the most amazing drive. Now we understand why he is the greatest of all time.

And finally, we thank Jean Beaulieu, the man who selected Slave Dream as a yearling and developed him. This could not have happened without him.

FRANcO cIANcI & IsIdORO RussO

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to me that you get what you pay for.Fillies with pedigree sell for big money.”

Fillies aside though, Rosati ended uptopping the second day of the PremierYearling Sale in New Zealand with the$140,000 purchase of the sale topper, atrotting colt sired by the French sire LoveYou.

“Mary wanted a trotter and we’dbecome very good friends with PeterLagan of PGG Wrightson who steered usthis direction. His name now is Amore

Stride and is training with Mark Hayes.”Interestingly Rosati does not have his

horses with the higher profile trainers.“I look for horsemen who really

understand horses. I don’t worry if theyare name people or not. Mary and Iadore our horses and have found thatthe bigger name trainers try to spendtheir time telling us what we should bedoing with them. That does not workwith us.”

Eventually, Rosati will be owner of

an exclusive broodmare band. Late lastmonth, at the Cullen Breeding dispersalin New Zealand, he paid $100,000 for theWestern Hanover mare Crown Counsel infoal to Christian Cullen.

As this issue was being placedonline, the Rosatis were making plans toattend the Little Brown Jug in Ohio inmid September.

“While I was upset with the eventsat the Lexington sale I would have likedto gone back this year. However, we can-not stay because of business commit-ments so maybe it will be back toHarrisburg instead. I would like a goodtrotting filly.”

It’s clear that a small property is onthe horizon for the Rosatis. A 50 acreplot of land would be ideal for their pur-poses says Emilio.

“I’m 64 and it would be nice to getup in the morning, look out the windowand see our horses while drinking a cupof coffee. I keep waiting for someone tobuy me out of the business but all I’veheard so far from anyone is talk. Thingsin Australia look very good for the nextfive years, maybe even 10,” he proclaims.

“I talk with people in America inconstruction and they tell me how lowtheir margins are. We have it so good inAustralia. This is the luckiest country inthe world.”

Emilio Rosati is a proud Australiannow but has never forgotten his Italianheritage.

“My father lived to see what I’daccomplished. When he was 85 hemoved back to Italy and died when hewas 90. My mother died in 1994 of can-cer and she was the driving force in ourfamily.

“My father lost his father when hewas seven. He did not have it easy andcame here to make a better life for hisfamily. This new generation does notunderstand that because they have hadit too easy. They do not understand hav-ing to do things out of necessity, theyhave no edge to them.

“I think about retirement and spend-ing more time in the breeding game ofwhich I am very passionate. I’m very proudof what this family has done. We had toadapt and that’s what racing horses is abit like. There are no excuses.” �

September 2010 • The Harness Edge

A MAN OF NO EXCUSES

TRIUMPHANT CAVIAR

2,1:59.1f, 3,1:54.2h, 4,1:51.4s –’10 ($628,775)B.h. 4 S Js Caviar-Ens Tag Session-Tagliabue

All time Canadian record holder for an older trotting horse – 1:51.4s atMohawk Racetrack. Congratulations to Kerry and Chris Beaver, Jim

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His half-brother sells at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale in the Saga Farms consignment…

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For Further inFormation contact

Albert C. Adams • Mark C. Adams6421 St. Rt. 13 South, Bellville, OH 44813-8832Albert (419) 564-2883 • Mark (419) 564-2922Fax: 419-886-7097

Photo by New

Image Media

September 2010 • The Harness Edge

IN THE CHAMPION’S CLOSET

LAURENp,2, 1:53s-‘10 ($108,000) 6-5-0-0Modern Art – One Cadet – Armbro Cadet

1. She wears a plain snaffle bit with a chin strap.

2. Her bridle is a simple blind bridle.

3. I added knees boots after that picture was taken.She brushed a knee in one of the Whenuwish-uponastar races. It was nothing serious but bettersafe than sorry.

4. She wears two head poles to keep her as straightas possible.

5. Her shoes are steel full swedge up front and halfand half round, half swedge behind.

6. Like most of my horses she carries her head fairlylow.

7. She’s worn the Advantage, Harmer and Brodeurbikes, it doesn’t seem to matter much to her. I’mjust happy most of these drivers are buying theirown bikes, it makes it easier for me.

In The Champion’s Closet is sponsored by:

Trainer Bob McIntosh’s comments:

“This is the first horse I’ve had for her owners (Claudiaand Gordon Wright of Michigan). They brought her herelast fall. She had quite a bit of weight on, but she stoodvery correct.

“This filly’s dam was a good race mare (the Armbro Cadetmare One Cadet who won $318,000 in her career). I likedLauren right from the start, there was nothing about hernot to like. As you can see, she's pretty simply rigged.

“Other than the Champlain she’ll stick with the OntarioSires Stakes for the rest of the year.”

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Photo by New

Image Media

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The Harness Edge • September 2010

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September 2010 • The Harness Edge

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STEINER Stock Farm2010 Yearlings at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale • October 13 – 17

ColtsLima Broadway (PA Eligible)2/25/09, Broadway Hall-Better CreditSecond foal (oldest now 2) from stakes placed Better Credit3,1:58.4f.

Lima Dynamic (NY Eligible)4/29/09, Conway Hall-Divine RhythmFirst Conway Hall from Divine Rhythm 4,1:57.1.

Mor Than Desire (PA Eligible)5/7/09, Real Desire-Pauls PeanutSecond foal (oldest now 2) from stakes winner Pauls Peanutp,3,1:55.4f ($84,917).

Lima Spirit (NJ Eligible)1/22/09, Yankee Glide-Spirit Of The LawFirst foal from multiple stakes winner Spirit Of The Law 4,1:55.3($153,120).

FilliesLima Daydream (NY Eligible)3/15/09, Artiscape-Dedi’s DreamHalf-sister to stakes winner Dream Proof p,1:48.4 ($515,579).

Lima Nostalgia (NY Eligible)5/9/09, Art Major-Noble MarthaSecond foal (oldest now 2) from OHSS Champion NobleMartha p,3,1:52.4 ($157,802).

Lima Casino (NY Eligible)3/28/09, Bettor’s Delight-Cavetta HanoverFrom Cavetta Hanover p,3,1:53.3 ($34,882); second dam CamiWhitestocking p,4,1:50.3 ($573,388).

Lima Sunlight (PA Eligible)3/26/09, Broadway Hall-SuncoastThree-quarter sister to multiple stakes placed Atia 3,1:58.3f($63,368).

Lima Blue (PA Eligible)5/16/09, Cantab Hall-Blue And BlueSecond foal (oldest now 2) from a half-sister to NYSS ChampionBlacktuxwhitesocks 2,1:56.2 ($198,061).

Lima Pleasure (PA Eligible)2/14/09, Cantab Hall-PineryFirst foal from stakes winner Pinery 2,1:58 ($129,424).

Lima Playmate (NY Eligible)1/21/09, Credit Winner-Pacific LegacyFirst foal from stakes placed Pacific Legacy 2,2:02.3f ($13,727).

Lima Rosalee, (PA Eligible)1/26/09, Dragon Again-Rose ParadeHalf-sister to multiple stakes placed Really Showing Offp,2,1:53.2 ($86,781).

Mor Artistry (PA Eligible)2/1/09, Real Artist-DonethatbeenthereHalf-sister to multiple stakes winner Ain’t Goin Back p,4,1:51($306,284).

Lima Flirt (NJ Eligible)5/4/09, Tell All-Falcon GroundHalf-sister to Noble Falcon p,1:48.3 ($691,200).

Lima Beauty (PA Eligible)3/31/09, Yankee Cruiser-Beach HappyFull sister to Lima Bikini p,3,2:00.1h-’10.

Lima Denise (PA Eligible)3/23/09, Yankee Cruiser-Danielle DonutsFirst Yankee Cruiser from Danielle Donuts p,3,1:57.4h ($26,509).

Lima Temptress (PA Eligible)2/11/09, Yankee Cruiser-Thunder SahbraFull or half-sister to 3 in 1:55, including stakes winner ThunderCruise p,3,1:53h ($197,686).

Also selling two at the Forest City Sale September 26Lima Sensation, colt 3/4/09 Modern Art-Sensational SarahLima Brooke, filly 3/13/09 Striking Sahbra-Brookelin Star

and six at the Hoosier Classic October 29 & 30Lima Cloud, colt 3/28/09 Cincinnati Kid-Close To HeavenLima Storm, colt 4/3/09 Charley Barley-SnoozyLima Lynx, colt 4/16/09 Panspacificflight-Listen To KateLima Paradox, colt 4/17/09 Towner’s Big Guy-Prissy PantsLima Glory, filly 3/8/09 Southwind Elian-Girl PowerLima Calliope, filly 4/6/09 Kilowatt-Caesars Artist

Visit our website at www.steinerstockfarm.comVideos will be available on the website.

Wade Morris, Farm Manager2050 Bellefontaine Rd., Lima, OH 45804 • (419) 222-3026 • Fax (419) 222-8307

Raised in Ohio…and eligible to the sport’s most lucrative programs!

Jun30_SteinerStockFarm:Jun24_SteinerStockFarm.qxd 6/24/10 8:51 AM Page 1

Our 125th Anniversary!!

Forest City Yearling Sale StonebridgeFarm.comSeptember 26, London, ON Videos and photos now available!

Hip 146 STONEBRIDGE SECRET Stonebridge Regal – Falcons Secret

Filly from the first crop by Stonebridge Regal p, 1:48.1 ($1,065,578). Half-sister to

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Be sure to see our impressive consignment!