The world is on Varenne’s trail

The world of harness racing is full of his name.

It can be found in newspapers, on television, in all the mouths of enthusiasts and insiders of all kinds. He is Varenne (Waikiki Beach), simply the greatest Standardbred horse of all time, capable of going into every opponent’s house and knowing how to impose his own law, that of the strongest.

From America to Northern Europe, passing through France and obviously his Italy. There isn’t an inch of the world where harness racing has good technical value, where the stallion hasn’t been able to win.

In this article we will not dwell on what was Varenne’s incomparable competitive career, the whole world knows him, it would be superfluous and even the risk of almost touching the banal would be enormous. Rather the will is to go to the bottom of the importance that Varenne has had up to now in international breeding.

Wanting to embark on a journey that we can define as not real but simply virtual, it is a good thing to start from the United States, where Varenne’s footprint has arrived and has been able to exploit at least two interesting aspects on which it is important to dwell: Tactical Landing and Mission Brief. In fact, these two horses are brothers having in common the same mother, the famous Southwind Serena who is not by chance a daughter of Varenne.

Even in the case of Tactical Landing and Mission Brief, which share the maternity of a daughter of Varenne and the paternity of Muscle Hill, it is easy to see how much Varenne has been able to offer to international breeding especially as regards the female line that derives from him.

In fact, Varenne is appreciated as a sire of stallions, but he is even more considered if his name appears in the maternal line, therefore as a sire of mares. If there is a country, however, in which Varenne is considered something truly extraordinary more than any other, that is Italy.

Talking about spaghetti, pizza or Varenne in Italy is almost the same thing, everyone knows it, even people who don’t understand horse racing, but the name is enough to ignite something extraordinary.

However, without digressing too much about the popular, for insiders, Varenne has become over time a great memory of an athlete horse, but increasingly an established stallion with extraordinary results in breeding. It is difficult to name some of his sons who have become important, a book would not be enough but if you want to quickly examine his first year of production in the stud farm, you realize how already his debut in the breed was characterized by horses capable of leave something important in Italian trotting racing and beyond.

Let’s think, for example, of Impeto Grif, born not only of an extraordinary father, but also of a fantastic mother. In fact, for the birth of Impeto Grif, Varenne fertilized Meadowbranch Nan, a daughter of Pine Chip and Peace Corps, therefore the champions joined the champions and this allowed Impeto Grif to have something truly extraordinary in his blood which also allowed to cross the Italian borders to go racing in America and now, he is currently awaiting his results as a sire.

It would be impossible to dwell on the many good offspring that Varenne has left up to now, but one thing is certain: his second year as a sire must absolutely be taken into consideration.

Among his “top” productions must be considered Lisa America capable of exalting herself all over the world, and above all Lana Del Rio. In particular, Lana Del Rio was able to put together a stellar competitive career that led her to win 1,422,557 euros, an enormous sum resulting from the victory in the Italian Trot Derby, the most important race for a three-year-old horse in Italy, as well as many other classics also in France, especially in France where she was able to perform well in the Prix Du Conseil General and in the Prix De France, among other tests.

Her career as a mother, on the other hand, has not yet seen her exalt herself on the same levels on the track, however her children Zephyrus Bar (Love You) winner of over 50,000 euros and a record of 1.12.4 and Charleston Bar (Oropuro Bar) winner of over 15,000 euros and a record of 1.13.6 as well as Dea Sprint Bar also capable of standing out in international contexts by winning over 10,000 euros and a record of 1.12.7 make her a good mother.

Very interesting to note that the cross between Varenne and Urbem D’Asoolo (Ata Star L) also produced the classic winner Pace Del Rio which is the full brother of Lana Del Rio. His breeding activity in Italy has not yet given him the champion, however it is a horse that needs no competitive presentation considering the fact that he has won over 320,000 euros and a record of 1.10.9 with important classic victories such as example that of the Republic Grand Prix.

Writing an article regarding the importance of Varenne in world breeding is absolutely complicated as her children all over the world are so many that the fear of not mentioning someone is truly enormous. However, let’s try to name other names that we think are really useful and interesting.

If we have already said previously that Varenne is an excellent sire of mares, it is equally true that some of his sons have already been distinguishing themselves for some years in breeding: this is the case, for example, of Pascià Lest, winner of numerous great prizes including the Derby Trotting Italian.

However, how can we fail to think of the importance that Varenne’s pedigree has had in recent years with the Italian Trot Derby: Only a few years ago, it was Zlatan who won the race that represents the dream of every breeder. He is a son of Napoleon Bar, therefore Varenne is his grandfather thanks to the paternal line.

Unfortunately, we have to complete this article for reasons of space, but not before having dedicated a dutiful parenthesis to Alrajah One, whose mother is the daughter of Varenne and what Alrajah One represents today is recognized all over the world.

by Filippo Lago, for Harnesslink

(If you have any questions or story ideas for Filippo Lago, please email him at lagofilippo0@gmail.com)