TOP trainer Roger Varian has opened up on how his brother’s ‘brutal murder’ gave him the inner strength to succeed in racing.
Varian, 43, a Classic-winning trainer, said he and his family suffered ’emotional trauma’ after brother Christopher was killed in August 2010.
"I'm motivated to try to achieve what he didn't get a chance to achieve."
Roger Varian's older brother, Christopher, was murdered in 2010 and the trainer explains how the tragic incident impacted his family and his life.#LuckOnSunday | @nickluck pic.twitter.com/JHbNKBKDzO
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 17, 2022
The high-profile murder was nationwide news and saw Jonathan Limani, a Swedish citizen who had only been in England for a couple of weeks, given life in prison.
Limani was committed to Broadmoor psychiatric hospital after judge Anthony King labelled the murder ‘the ultimate in violence’.
Varian, who has more than 1000 winners, was just making a name for himself in the training ranks at the time.
The catastrophic personal circumstances plunged him and his loved ones into intense grief and despair.
But he told Racing TV’s Nick Luck how he learned to accept what had happened to his elder brother, who had been a restaurant manager at a golf club in Thame, Oxfordshire, at the time.
And he used it, not necessarily as fuel to succeed, but as a way to find the strength to reach the top in racing.
In an incredibly moving interview, Varian, who is based in Newmarket, said: “It’s a long time ago but Chris was my elder brother, he was 18 months older and we grew up, went to school and played sport together.
“We were very close.
“He was brutally murdered at the age of 32.
‘I REALISED HOW DELICATE WE ARE’
“Most people in life go through emotional trauma to varying degrees.
“But once something happens it’s happened, and you’re not going to change it.
“How we as a family dealt with it – I will always be immensely proud.
“I quickly realised how delicate we were.
“I didn’t wish to use the death of my brother as motivation, but I am motivated to achieve what he didn’t get the chance to.
“I find strength from what we went through then to deal with challenges life presents now.”
‘I’M NOT AFRAID’
Varian, a father-of-three and happily married to wife Hanako, says the ordeal means he is ‘not as afraid as I might be’ now.
He adds that ‘nothing can be as bad’ as finding out his brother was no longer there to share the highs and lows of his career on the track.
Varian, who is perhaps best known for saddling three-time Group 1 winner Postponed and this season trains the exciting Tyrrehenian Sea and Tinker Toy, added: “It’s a hard thing to talk about and explain and get right.
“But very quickly, within the first 24 hours, I knew I couldn’t change what had happened.
EMERGE STRONGER
“Through the emotional trauma you either emerge stronger or weaker.
“I was going to emerge from it stronger.
“That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to suffer and grieve, but I think I came out of it stronger.”
Viewers were quick to praise Varian for his honesty and candidness recalling an unimaginably difficult time.
One said: “Wow – I am blown away by that interview.”
While another commented: “What a moving interview, what Roger and his family has been through can make or break a family. Am sure his brother will always be proud of Roger’s success.”
Varian has reached the top of racing, including landing this Royal Ascot winner in 2019 thanks to Cape Byron in the Wokingham
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