Italy’s most famous horse Varenne dies at 31 after fathering more than 2,000 offspring

NewsWorldEuropeItaly’s most famous horse Varenne dies at 31 after fathering more than 2,000 offspringHe became the only horse ever named Horse of the Year in Italy, France and the United StatesAnna Uras & Mirko PejanovicTuesday 18 August 2026 20:14 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b3035203","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/varenne-death-italy-horse-offspring-b3035203.html","title":"Italy’s most famous horse dies at age 31 after fathering 2,000 offspring"}}Italian driver Gianpolo Minnucci and Italian horse Varenne speed to the finish line to win Minnucci's second Prix d'Amerique in a row, at Vincennes horse track outside Paris January 27, 2002 (Reuters)On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"pianoFieldName":"receiveOnTheGround","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceS...