'He will be greatly missed' - death of champion Dansili aged 25

Juddmonte's exceptional stallion Dansili has died after a short but aggressive illness. He would have turned 26 on January 1.

A top-class racehorse, he had been a resident of Banstead Manor Stud since his retirement from the track in 2000 and had been pensioned from stallion duties in 2018.

By the mighty Danehill and bred by Juddmonte Farms, he was the first foal out of the Listed winner Hasili, who went on to become a blue hen for the operation as the dam of six consecutive Graded stakes winners, including five individual Group or Grade 1 winners such as Banks Hill and Intercontinental.

Trained in France by Andre Fabre, Dansili won his first and only race as a two-year-old, as well as his debut at three, making him a leading contender for the French Guineas in 1999.

He found only Sendawar too good but ran four more times that season, winning the Group 3 Prix Messidor and placing in the Prix Jacques le Marois won by Dubai Millennium as well as the Prix du Moulin.

Dansili returned for a four-year-old season in which he won both the Group 3 Prix Edmond Blanc and Group 2 Prix du Muguet and placed four further times at the highest level, including running second to the 'Iron Horse' Giant's Causeway in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.

He was third by a neck and a nose to War Chant and North East Bound in the Breeders' Cup Mile before returning to his birthplace at Banstead Manor to start a new chapter as a stallion.

Dansili would sire 22 Group 1 winners, starting at a fee of £8,000 and rising to a peak of £100,000 thanks to outstanding horses such as Flintshire, Harbinger, Rail Link, Proviso, Queen's Trust, Dank and The Fugue.

He was champion sire in France in 2006 and an influential broodmare sire of the likes of Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita, Nezwaah, Cliffs Of Moher, Time Test, Snow Sky, Agent Murphy, Astaire and Juddmonte stallion Expert Eye. He was pensioned from stud duties in 2018 at the age of 22.

He will not only be represented in the future by his daughters but his son Bated Breath, who is carrying on the torch under the Juddmonte umbrella.

Simon Mockridge, Juddmonte's general manager, said: "As a racehorse he was durable, genuine, consistent and expertly handled by Andre Fabre throughout his career.

"Although he deserved a Group 1 victory on the racecourse, having been placed in six, that somehow always managed to evade him. During his 17 years at stud he played an intrinsic role alongside Oasis Dream in establishing the reputation of the Juddmonte roster.

"A truly wonderful, reliable and uncomplicated character as a stallion, he was a firm favourite of the stallion team and Juddmonte as a whole. He will be greatly missed.”

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