by Jeff Lowe

Helen of Troy, the dam of 2006 champion sprinter Thor’s Echo, was euthanized on June 30 at Old English Rancho in Sanger, California, due to complications of laminitis. She was 12.

Steve Warner owned the California-bred Mr. Integrity mare out of King’s Thunder, by Time to Explode. Warner bred Thor’s Echo, her only winner, in partnership with Carleton Block and Harry Forman.

“She had a fight with laminitis for five years,” Warner said on July 15. “We tried everything, believe me, but she couldn’t make it. We have three full sisters [to Thor’s Echo], though. We have that to be thankful for. She gave me my champion.”

Helen of Troy never raced, and Thor’s Echo was her second foal. Warner and partners sold the Swiss Yodeler gelding privately for $250,000 to Pablo Suarez and Royce Jaime after he won a six-furlong maiden race in January 2005.

Less than three months later, Thor’s Echo won the WinStar Derby at Sunland Park for trainer Doug O’Neill. He finished second in the 2006 Gulf News Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) before taking the TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs and Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes (G1) at Laurel Park to clinch champion sprinter honors.

Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum purchased Thor’s Echo privately after the De Francis Dash. He recently made it back from a 14-month layoff, returning with a fourth-place finish in the True North Handicap (G2) on June 7 at Belmont Park.

Helen of Troy has produced two other starters. Warner’s three full sisters to Thor’s Echo are a five-year-old named Helen’s Echo who finished unplaced in her only start, an unraced two-year-old, and a yearling.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer