Death of promising stallion Speightster after stable accident

Top five US second-crop sire Speightster was humanely euthanised on Sunday evening after kicking the wall of his stall and fracturing a hind leg, according to Sherry McLean, the owner of Northern Dawn Stables in Ontario, where the stallion had been relocated six weeks ago for this year's breeding season.

Speightster, a 10-year-old Graded stakes winner by champion sprinter Speightstown, was the first stallion owned by Jay and Christine Hayden, who breed and race as Saintsbury Farms.

"He was a stallion that really fit Ontario because his female family is so top heavy with top Canadian horses, the family of Dance Smartly and Smart Strike," said Jay Hayden.

"Here we were the first week in February and he had north of 40 mares already, which is unheard of in Ontario because breeders want to pick their stallions after their foals are on the ground.

"It has hardly sunk in," Hayden continued about the loss. "I have to make a call to Larry McGinnis [stallion manager] at WinStar. When we bought the horse, he said, 'Gee, we're sorry to see him go. He is a beautiful stallion to work with. A kind stallion and no vices.' It is a tough part of the business. You never expect it to be this early."

McLean said the stallion had been feeling good and bouncing around in his stall. With a single kick, everything changed.

"He was just happy and to have this happen, to say it is devastating is an understatement," she said. "People were so excited to have him here. He was a class act."

McLean and Hayden both said multiple radiographs of the injured hind leg had been taken and evaluated by multiple veterinarians before the call was made to euthanise him.

Bred and raced by WinStar Farm, Speightster is out of the Danzig mare Dance Swiftly, who is a full sister to Canadian Horse of the Year and multiple champion Dance Smartly, the dam of Canadian champion Dancethruthedawn and Queen's Plate winner Scatter the Gold.

Dance Swiftly is also a half sister to prominent sire Smart Strike. Speightster was undefeated at three when he earned status as a graded stakes winner by taking the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park. He made one start at four, finishing unplaced in the Churchill Downs Stakes. Speightster was retired to stud at WinStar where he entered stud at $10,000.

As a sire, he was a top 10 freshman sire of 2020 by earnings and continued climbing the ranking to be the fifth-leading second-crop sire last year with more than $4.28 million in progeny earnings.

His top runners were already making an impact in Canada with his daughters Dreaming of Drew winning the Princess Elizabeth Stakes and Aubrieta winning the Glorious Song Stakes, both at Woodbine.

Speightster also sired multiple stakes winner Door Buster, stakes winners Tantrum and That Kenney Kid and Graded-placed winner Tough to Tame. The sire's progeny included 12 black-type performers and 88 winners so far. His career progeny earnings are $5,493,331 as of Monday.

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