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The abduction of
the chestnut mare, called Unicka, and the colt, named Vampire
Dany, was discovered by the horses' trainer at the Wave stables
near Pisa, northern Italy, when he went to feed them on Tuesday
morning, the stables said in a statement.
"The entire stables is protected by a security system which was
turned on as normal," the stables said. "This make us think the
heist was carefully planned by experts in the equine world."
Italian media have speculated that the thieves plan to demand a
ransom, as the animals are registered, making it harder to sell
them on the black market.
Both have already distinguished themselves in trotting, one of
Italy's biggest horse-racing businesses. Unicka won both Italy's
Trotting Derby and Orsi Mangelli Grand Prize in 2016.
Vampire Dany is descended from superstar racer Varenne, who was
so popular in the early 2000s that commentators joked he should
be named foreign minister.
Economic crisis and competition from other kinds of gambling
have hit Italian horse racing hard in recent years, with
gambling revenue falling by three quarters from 2009 to about
500 million euros in 2014, agriculture ministry data show.
"To steal Unicka and Vampire Dany is to deal a death blow to the
entire horse-racing industry, which had found hope and
confidence again thanks to these horses," said Edoardo Fanucci,
a deputy from the Democratic Party.
In trotting races, the jockey is pulled along in a two-wheeled
buggy as the animal tears around the course as fast as it can
possibly trot without breaking into a gallop.
(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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