Addio Il Capitano: Varenne Passes Away at 31, a Legacy Spanning Three Generations

Varenne, widely regarded as the greatest trotter of all time, passed away on the night of August 17-18 at the age of 31 after suffering a cardiac arrest at Allevamento LJ near Eboli in Southern Italy. The news was confirmed by his official entourage after a veterinarian determined the cause of death to be a sudden heart attack. His passing marks the end of an era; no other trotter has dominated international harness racing for so long or so decisively, whether as a racehorse or as a stallion.

Varenne was born on May 19, 1995, in Copparo, in the Italian province of Ferrara, by Waikiki Beach (from the Speedy Somolli line) out of the mare Ialmaz (by Zebu). He was bred by Alessandro Viani at Allevamento Di Zenzalino. Purchased as a yearling by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Dubois, who named him after the Rue Varenne in Paris where the Italian embassy is located, Varenne returned to Italy as a two-year-old under the ownership of Vincenzo Giordano of Scuderia Dany.

Trainer Jori Turja from Finland and driver Giampaolo Minnucci, along with manager Francesco Ruffo and Finnish groom Iina Rastas, formed the core of the team that would guide Varenne throughout his entire career. His racetrack statistics are staggering. In 73 starts, Varenne triumphed 62 times, finished second six times, and third twice. He won 53 Group races across eleven different distances in seven different countries.

His career earnings totaled 6,035,665 euros, making him the richest Standardbred in the history of harness racing at the time of his retirement in 2002. He set a world record for the mile at 1:51.1 on July 28, 2001, in the $1 million Breeders Crown Open Trot at The Meadowlands, becoming the first European trotter to win this prestigious race.

To this day, Varenne remains the only trotter to win the Prix d'Amérique, the Gran Premio della Lotteria, and the Elitlopp in two consecutive years (2001 and 2002). He captured the Lotteria three times in a row between 2000 and 2002. At the 2002 Elitlopp, he set a world record of 1:53 on a 1609m track, after already clocking 1:53.2 in the elimination heat.

In his peak 2001 season, with thirteen wins in fourteen starts, he was named Horse of the Year in both Italy and France and received the Dan Patch Award for best older trotter in North America. In Italy, he was also named Sportsman of the Year. Following his retirement in 2002, Varenne began a second career as a stallion, first at Allevamento Il Grifone in Vigone near Turin (2003-2008), then at Menhammar Stuteri outside Stockholm under Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg (2008-2010), before returning to Il Grifone.

He sired over 2,000 foals and was crowned champion sire in Italy in 2010, 2011, and 2012. His most notable offspring include Twister Bi, who won the 2017 Yonkers International Trot in a world record of 2:22.1 over 1.25 miles, and Lisa America, winner of the 2010 Sweden Cup. Top performers like Vernissage Grif, Arazi Boko, and Tony Gio also carry his genes.

His influence extended far beyond his own direct offspring. As a broodmare sire, Varenne left an equally profound mark. His daughter Southwind Serena, herself a Breeders Crown winner at age three, produced Tactical Landing and Mission Brief. Mission Brief, in turn, is the dam of Apex, the winner of this year's Hambletonian.

This genetic line, from Varenne through Southwind Serena to Mission Brief to Apex, illustrates how the legacy of Il Capitano continues to influence the world's greatest races today. Varenne was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York, in 2010. At 31, he was among the longest-lived Standardbreds ever recorded.

His passing leaves a void that is not just about a phenomenon on the track, but about a stallion whose genetics remain a guiding force for global trotting breeding three generations later. Il Capitano has died, but his bloodline lives on.