Death of 1992 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner turned sire Gilded Time aged 31

Bar None Ranches in Alberta, Canada, has announced the death this week of 1992 Eclipse champion two-year-old male and sire Gilded Time due to the infirmities of old age. The chestnut son of Timeless Moment was just two months shy of his 32nd birthday by its actual date.

"As much a champion in the breeding shed as much as he was on the track, the Breeders' Cup and Eclipse champion leaves us a legacy list of progeny as long as his famous forelock, including our Gayego," Bar None Ranches wrote on its Facebook page.

Gilded Time was bred by Harry T Mangurian jnr and raised on his Mockingbird Farm outside of Ocala, Florida. He was the sixth foal out of the winning What A Pleasure daughter Gilded Lilly, who was a half-sister to 1970 Belmont Stakes winner and third-place Kentucky Derby finisher High Echelon.

Norman Casse's Cardinal Hill Farm sold the colt for Mangurian at the 1992 Ocala Breeders' Sales Select Florida-breds Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, which was held at the time at Calder racecourse. Agent Dennis Lynch bought the colt for $80,000 on behalf of trainer Darrell Vienna. Gilded Time would eventually race for owners Jack and Mark Silverman and TV writer/producer David Milch.

At two, Gilded Time's championship season was a four-race string of victories that began with a four-length romp at Hollywood Park and extended through the Grade 2 Sapling Stakes and Grade 2 Arlington-Washington Futurity and peaked with a three-quarter length win in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Gulfstream Park, which included Champagne Stakes winner Sea Hero and Del Mar Futurity winner River Special.

At three, Gilded Time was plagued with sore feet that prevented him from racing until the Breeders' Cup Sprint nearly a year later. Fitted with bar shoes for support for seven weeks, he ran third, just three-quarters of a length behind winner Cardmania and Meafara a neck back in second. Gilded Time retired from racing with a 4-0-1 record from six starts and $975,980 in earnings.

Gilded Time entered stud at Tom Simon's Vinery in Kentucky and became the leading North American freshman sire of 1997 with 12 winners and two stakes winners that included multiple Graded stakes winner Time Limit and Graded stakes winner Old Topper.

He would be the third-leading sire for his second-crop year by progeny earnings (nearly $2.1 million) and by stakes winners (seven). The stallion shuttled to Vinery in Australia for four seasons and also stood a season in Brazil before Bar None Ranches bought him in 2007.

For his stallion career, Gilded Time sired 66 black-type winners, 22 Graded/Group winners, and three champions — Brazilian two-year-old champion filly and seven-time stakes winner Desejada Duda, champion Scandinavian sprinter Verde-Mar, and dual Trinidad and Tobago Horse of the Year Thisonesforron.

Other elite runners included North American Grade 1 winners Gayego, Elloluv and Mandy's Gold, three-time Australian Group 1 winner Barely A Moment, Argentine Group 1 winner Phone Time, and Brazilian Group 1 winner Band Gipsy. Gilded Time's runners collectively earned more than $61.3m and averaged $58,850 per starter.

Only two of Gilded Time's runners would contest a Breeders' Cup race — Elloluv, who finished second in the 2003 Breeders' Cup Distaff, and Gayego, who was third in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

As a broodmare sire, Gilded Time has been represented by 76 black-type winners, including 22 Graded/group winners and four champions that have collectively earned nearly $44.3m so far. His champions as a broodmare sire include Canadian champion three-year-old male and sire Shaman Ghost and Puerto Rican Horse of the Year Mia Karina.

The Bar None Facebook post said: "He settled in quickly to his new role as 'King of the Farm,' and undeniably raised the bar for stallions in not only Alberta but for Western Canada as well. He gave us many exciting winners to cheer for, including the great homebred Silver Baubles."

Silver Baubles is a five-time stakes winner who won or placed in 12 stakes during a career in which he earned $282,410.

"As a pensioned horse, Gilded Time enjoyed his retirement, with every want and whim catered to by breeding manager Shaun Rathy," the post continued.

"Even in his twilight years, he was known for his sprints and bucking performances upon being turned out into his paddock, where he was able to watch each year's new foal crop and oversee the other horses from 'his hill.' He will be greatly missed by Rathy, her team, and the entire Bar None Ranches family."

For all the latest North American bloodstock and racing news, visit Bloodhorse