St Leger hero Lucarno suffers fatal heart attack aged 14

Lucarno, a Classic winner and useful sire of jumpers, suffered a fatal heart attack at Longford House Stud in County Tipperary on Tuesday.

The son of Dynaformer, who was 14, arrived at the farm last year from Shade Oak Stud in Shropshire. He had previously stood at Wood Farm Stud in Shropshire and spent two years at Haras de Saint-Voir in France.

Lucarno was bred by George Strawbridge out of his excellent broodmare Vignette, a daughter of Diesis who has also produced the Group 2 winners Flying Officer and Thought Worthy to Dynaformer, as well as last year's Lingfield Derby Trial third Tartini to Giant's Causeway.

John Gosden sent out Lucarno to win five races bearing Strawbridge's famous white and green silks, most notably the 2007 St Leger, in which he was driven by Jimmy Fortune to a length victory over Mahler.

Earlier in a busy three-year-old season the horse had won the Listed Fairway Stakes and finished fourth to Authorized in the Derby, second in the King Edward VII Stakes and fourth in the Princess of Wales's Stakes, before cementing his St Leger claims with a fluent success in the Great Voltigeur Stakes.

Lucarno was less consistent at four, but bounced back to form with an all-the-way win in the Princess of Wales's Stakes.

His oldest crop are eight years old and among his best representatives are the smart handicap chaser Global Dream and Listed-placed hurdler Lady Of Lamanver, while his younger French-conceived crops include the useful Droit Divin and Dame De Compagnie.

June Lewis of Longford House Stud said: "Lucarno was a lovely kind stallion with a big future ahead of him and is a big loss to us."

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