'Heart of gold' - Grade 1 winner Gayego dies aged 17 following colic

Multiple track record-setter and Grade 1 winner Gayego lost a battle with colic at the age of 17, according to Bar None Ranches in Alberta, Canada, where the stallion stood since his second year at stud in 2013.

"The Grade 1 winner and millionaire was as kind as he was fast, and his loss is felt by everyone at Bar None Ranches," the farm wrote on its Facebook page.

Hargus and Sandra Sexton bred Gayego in Kentucky out of the Lost Code winner Devils Lake. The colt was a son of Eclipse champion two-year-old male Gilded Time and was sold at the 2006 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $32,000 to Cubanacan Stables out of Warrendale Sales' consignment.

Gayego won his debut by three lengths at the former Hollywood Park for Cubanacan and trainer Paulo Lobo and went on to set his first track record in the San Pedro Stakes at Santa Anita Park, where he stopped the timer in 1:13.07.

Two races later he won the Arkansas Derby by three-quarters of a length. He would be unplaced in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, then return to the West Coast where he regrouped and ended the 2008 season with another 6 1/2-furlong record, this time at Hollywood Park where he won in 1:13.37 and earned a 116 Equibase Speed Figure for the performance.

Godolphin bought Gayego and campaigned him during 2009-11. At 4, he won the Mahab Al Shimaal at the former Nad Al Sheba racetrack in Dubai and was second in the Godolphin Mile. He was sent back to the US where he won the Ancient Title Stakes during the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet. At five, he placed third in two other Grade 1 races - the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and Triple Bend Handicap - and won the Presque Isle Mile Stakes in track record time of 1:34.90.

Gayego retired with an 8-4-2 record from 21 starts and earnings totaling $1,751,120. He entered stud at Norse Ridge Farms in Ontario in 2012 and then was moved to Bar None Ranches, where breeding manager Shaun Rathy managed the remainder of his career.

He sired 44 winners from 83 starters, led by Sadie Diamond Futurity winner Spirit Bay and multiple winner Lookout Taylor, who placed in the Supernatural Handicap.

"He enjoyed racing his sire Gilded Time up and down the long fence lines when he arrived, never one to turn down a challenge or an opportunity to show off," Bar None Ranches wrote about its sire. "In later years, because of his excellent, quiet temperament he was able to live by 'his mares,' enjoying his post watching the daily activities of the broodmare pens and socialising with anyone who'd stop in for a visit.

"His foals were known for their quiet, biddable personalities and reflected his large, kind eye and considerable size. The big black stallion with a heart of gold will be missed greatly by Shaun and her team, as well as anyone who had the fortune of having met him."

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