Two personalities from the horse racing industry are suspected of having illegally sold semen from the stallion Varenne, a legendary trotter. The suspects are being prosecuted in Italy for “fraud”, the lawyer of one of the accused told AFP on Tuesday.
Walter Ferrero, boss of the Varenne Forever company responsible for managing the stallion’s coverings, and Roberto Brischetto, head of the stud farm where Varenne enjoys a peaceful retirement near Turin, in the north of Italy, are said to have sold the semen of the stallion. stallion to breeders, without informing the owners of the breeding stock.
The Turin public prosecutor’s office has closed its investigations and a judge must now rule on whether or not to refer the two men to court. “We are calm,” however, assured AFP Me Enrico Calabrese, lawyer for Walter Ferrero.
The scam would have given “thousands of illegitimate sons” to the double champion, winner in 2001 and 2002 of the Prix d’Amérique, the most famous French trotting race, according to the daily “La Stampa”.
In 2018 alone, the suspects pocketed 200,000 euros. They presented themselves as the owners of the stallion and signed contracts directly with the breeders, at the expense of the legitimate owner of the horse, the Neapolitan company Varenne Futurity, which filed a complaint in 2019.
“Each foal needs, to be registered, documents” on which its parents appear, making any attempt to cheat difficult, argues Me Calabrese. “The concept of ‘illegitimate son’ cannot exist,” according to him.
Varenne, now 29 years old, retired from sports in 2002.
