The move in recent years towards races over shorter distances has led to greater reliance on horses of the American type.

[3]: 151 The first trotting races in the Italian peninsula were held in the Prato della Valle of Padova (which at that time was in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy) from 1808, some two years after the earliest official races at New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States.

Selection of the Italian Trotter did not begin until the second half of the nineteenth century, when mares with aptitude for trotting were put to English Thoroughbred stallions.

[3]: 152  The first notable Italian trotting horse was Vandalo, foaled in Ferrara in 1862.

[3]: 152 The Italian Trotter has been selectively bred exclusively for its racing ability, particularly over short (1600–1660 m) and medium (2060–2100 m) distances; races over longer distances are no longer common in Italy.