Claiborne Farm stallion and 1982 Horse of the Year Conquistador Cielo is recovering well at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee equine clinic near Lexington after developing signs of colic early Wednesday morning and undergoing surgery a short time later. Gus Koch, assistant manager at Claiborne, said the one-hour surgery performed around 5 a.m. by Dr. Michael Spirito went well and that Conquistador Cielo is expected back at the farm soon.

"He's doing great, all his vitals are good," Koch said. "He's bright, and has a good appetite."

Six feet of small intestine was removed and resectioned during the surgery after it had strangulated itself around a lipoma, or benign tumor made up of fat cells, that had restricted Conquistador Cielo's blood flow.

The health problems for 22-year-old Conquistador Cielo come less than two months after Claiborne was forced to euthanize its top stallion Unbridled after he underwent a pair of surgeries for colic in which four feet of large intestine was removed.

Koch stressed, however, that although Unbridled's doctors performed a resection similar to that of Conquistador Cielo, the two procedures can not be compared.

A son of Mr. Prospector, Conquistador Cielo has sired 611 starters from 16 crops of racing age and has progeny earnings of $50,673,623.

He has sired 62 stakes winners, including Grade 1 winner and $2,857,886 earner Marquetry, sire of Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Squirtle Squirt; multiple Grade 2 winner Forty Niner Days; 1998 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Wagon Limit; and Grade 2-winning sprinter Lexicon.

Campaigned by Henry de Kwiatkowski, Conquistador Cielo won nine of 13 career starts and earned $474,328. During his championship campaign in 1982, which included victory in the Belmont Stakes (G1), Conquistador Cielo won seven of nine starts for trainer Woody Stephens.

After winning a pair of allowance contests in May of his sophomore campaign, Stephens spotted Conquistador Cielo against older horses in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) which he won by 7¼-lengths in a new track record of 1:33 for one-mile. He was started right back for the Belmont six days later and trounced the field with a 14-length win.

Conquistador Cielo followed that up with victories in the Dwyer Stakes (G2) and Jim Dandy Stakes (G3) before finishing third in the Travers Stakes (G1) to wrap up year-end honors.

Out of the Grade 3-placed Bold Commander mare K D Princess, Conquistador Cielo was bred in Florida by Lewis Iandoli.—Victor Ryan