Italian trotting champion Varenne dies at 31 after career of 62 victories
Italian harness racing champion Varenne died on 18 August at the age of 31 at the LJ breeding farm in Eboli, concluding a life that included 62 career victories and over 6 million euros in prize money.
Announcement in Eboli
Italian trotter Varenne died on 18 August 2026 at the age of 31 at the LJ breeding farm in Eboli, located in the southern Italian province of Salerno. The champion racehorse, widely known throughout his sporting career under the moniker Il Capitano, spent the final chapters of his life at the Salerno facility. His management staff confirmed the news through a statement published on his official Instagram account on Tuesday morning, prompting tributes across the equestrian community.
It is with immense pain that we give the news of the death of the Captain.
Origins and racing beginnings
Born on 19 May 1995 at the Zenzalino breeding farm in Copparo, in the province of Ferrara, Varenne was the offspring of the American stallion Waikiki Beach and the Italian broodmare Ialmaz. His name was selected in reference to rue de Varenne in Paris, the location of the Italian embassy in France. He began his professional racing career on 4 April 1998 at the racecourse in Bologna. During that debut run, judges disqualified him for breaking into a gallop, but he drew immediate attention from equestrian experts by making up substantial lost ground. Throughout his racing career, he was placed under the guidance of Finnish trainer Jori Turja and was partnered on the track by Roman driver Giampaolo Minnucci.
- Born at the Zenzalino breeding farm in Copparo
- Makes competitive debut in Bologna
- Wins the Derby italiano del trotto
- Wins the Gran Premio delle Nazioni
- Wins European Grand Slam and Breeders Crown in world record time
- Secures second European Grand Slam and retires from racing
- Dies at age 31 at the LJ breeding farm in Eboli
Dominance in European harness racing
Across his complete racing career, Varenne entered 73 competitive races, recording 62 wins, six second-place finishes, and two third-place finishes. He generated more than 6 million euros in total prize earnings, establishing himself as the top prize-money earner in international trotting history. His domestic achievements began with victories in the 1998 Derby italiano del trotto and the 1999 Gran Premio delle Nazioni, followed by three consecutive titles in the Gran Premio Lotteria di Agnano in Naples between 2000 and 2002. On the broader European stage, he claimed the Grand Slam across two consecutive seasons in 2001 and 2002, winning the continent's three most prominent Group 1 events in the same calendar years: the Prix d'Amérique in Paris, the Elitloppet in Stockholm, and the Gran Premio Lotteria.
- First place
- 62 races
- Second place
- 6 races
- Third place
- 2 races
International records and breeding legacy
The 2001 racing season served as his definitive international breakthrough, marked by a sweep of the world's top trotting competitions in a single calendar year. In the United States, Varenne contested the Breeders Crown final at the Meadowlands circuit in New York, winning the event and registering a one-mile time of 1'51"1. That mark, corresponding to an average speed of 1'09"1 per kilometre, stood as a world record at the time. His performances earned him Horse of the Year honours across three different countries: in Italy in 2000, 2001, and 2002; in France in 2001 and 2002; and in the United States in 2001. Following his formal retirement from competition at the close of 2002, he transitioned into a career as a breeding stallion, leaving a lasting bloodline through hundreds of registered progeny in Italy and abroad.
