NEWS
Champion Flanders dies after paddock accident
Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 5:57 PM
by Frank Angst
A champion on the track and a producer of a champion, Flanders died following an accident at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky.
The 18-year-old Seeking the Gold mare earned champion two-year-old filly honors in 1994, when she won three Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Her first foal, Surfside, by Seattle Slew, earned champion three-year-old filly honors in 2000.
Ashford General Manager Dermot Ryan said Flanders was euthanized in mid-February because of complications of laminitis following a paddock injury. Earlier this year, Flanders foaled a Bernardini filly who now is with a nurse mare.
The Paulick Report first reported Flanders’ death.
Ashford purchased Flanders for $400,000 from the Overbrook Farm dispersal during the 2009 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
In her one season of racing, Flanders won four of five starts and earned $805,000. In addition to her Breeders’ Cup victory, she also won the Frizette Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park and the Spinaway Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
A homebred for the late W. T. Young’s Overbrook Farm and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Flanders also finished first in the Matron Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park but was disqualified and placed last.
Surfside, the first foal for Flanders, won two Grade 1 races at both two and three, securing champion three-year-old filly honors in 2000. Since then, Flanders has produced seven other winners, including stakes-placed Flanders Fields, by A.P. Indy.
Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior writer
