by Jeff Lowe

Three Wonders, Florida’s leading freshman sire of 2006 and leading second-crop sire of ’07, was euthanized on May 16 after developing instability related to vertebrae issues.

The 11-year-old Storm Cat horse out of Wood of Binn, by Woodman, had been withheld from stud duty this season at Hidden Point Farm in Ocala.

“I feel it was for humane purposes,” owner Peter Van Rosbeck said on Wednesday morning. “We don’t have all the information yet because it’s coming back from the [University of Florida]. They believe it was something to do with the spinal column, in the vertebrae. It usually happens in older horses, where there was a buildup of calcium and spurs that was causing obvious severe pain and a lack of stability.”

Rosbeck said the condition was comparable to wobbler syndrome, which generally involves a lack of coordination and muscle weakness and can be caused by an injury to the spinal cord.

“We tried to figure out what we could do every way possible but it got to the point that it was not fair to the horse to go any longer trying to correct it and bring him back to health,” Rosbeck said. “He was so miserable because of the pain that he was actually destroying himself. He was miserable to himself and to the world. [He did not breed this year] because we couldn’t take the risk of him falling and hurting himself or someone around him.

“We lost a good stallion and it’s sad, but you have to think about the welfare of the horse.”

A half brother to Grade 2 winner Distilled, Three Wonders finished eighth on the North American freshman sire list in 2006 and currently ranks 11th on the North American third-crop list with $3,481,268 in progeny earnings through Tuesday. His three-year-old daughter, Calico Bay, is a multiple stakes winner.

Bred in Kentucky by Craig Singer, Three Wonders won four of 30 career starts and earned $318,032. His biggest victory came in the 2000 Kent Breeders’ Cup Stakes (G3) for owner Mark Stanley and trainer Elliott Walden. Rosbeck purchased him privately after his three-year-old season and began standing him as a six-year-old in 2003.

Three Wonders covered 83 mares in 2007 for an advertised fee of $7,500.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer