Varenne, the Italian horse who transcended sport during a record-smashing career as the world’s greatest trotter, has died of a heart attack aged 31.
A symbol of elegance and athletic prowess, he even appeared as a celebrity on popular TV shows.
He leaves behind a wide community of adoring fans in Italy and abroad, as well as an estate of over 2,000 offspring.
Trotting, which is especially popular in France, Finland, Italy and North America, is a form of racing where horses pull a lightweight carriage called a “sulky”, manned by a driver while maintaining a specific two-beat gait called a “trot”.
During a five-year career spanning 1998 to 2002, Varenne—widely known as “the Captain”—achieved 62 victories in 73 races, including 53 Grand Prix wins, earning over €6 million in prize money.
“He was a Ferrari with a brain,” Varenne’s loyal driver, Giampaolo Minnucci, told Italian daily La Stampa in an interview last month.
At the height of his fame in 2002, Varenne thrilled spectators at a presentation of horses and drivers at Milan’s San Siro stadium by lowering his head to touch his muzzle with his right front leg, bowing to the public.
He became the only horse ever named Horse of the Year in Italy, France and the United States, sweeping all three honours in 2001, and was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2010.
From 2004 to 2024, his semen was sold worldwide at between €10,000 and €20,000 per cover, yielding more than 2,000 horses. His first son, Italo Del Ronco, fetched €150,000 ($173,580.00).
Born near the north-eastern Italian city of Ferrara on May 19, 1995, he took his name from the Rue de Varenne in Paris, where Italy’s embassy in France is situated.
Acquired by his long-standing owner, Enzo Giordano, after his debut race in 1998, he rapidly rose to stardom through a streak of wins, coming to be widely recognised as the greatest trotter of all time.
He established a world record over the mile distance in 2001 and a 1,000-metre track record in 2002.
At the 2002 World Cup in Vincennes, he set an unbeaten speed record for 2100 metres, taking the title despite a broken sulky wheel.
“He toured the world, flew more often than a pilot and received honours from Pope Wojtyla and Italy’s President Ciampi,” Minnucci said.