NEWS
Colic claims Minnesota sire Supremo
Posted: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 3:12 PM
SUPREMO
Tony Leonard photo
by Joe Nevills
Grade 2 winner and veteran sire Supremo died earlier this summer due to complications from colic.
The 19-year-old by Gone West out of Danzig mare Personal Glory stood at Benz Lake Farm in Stillwater, Minnesota. He was the sire of multiple Grade 2-winner Puerto Banus and multiple Australian Group 2 winner Sportsman. Supremo was the sire of 188 winners and seven stakes winners from 13 crops of racing age through August 8.
“He was great stallion to stand, and of course royally bred,” Benz Lake owner Dennis Strohkirch said. “He was a great stud for Minnesota.”
Supremo won two of seven lifetime starts, including the 1994 Norfolk Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park. He retired with earnings of $228,250.
Supremo’s stallion career began in 1996 at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, where he also shuttled to Australia for three seasons.
He stood the 2001 season in Virginia and was relocated to Iowa for the 2003 season. Supremo arrived in Minnesota prior to the 2005 season.
Supremo currently ranks seventh among Minnesota sires by 2011 progeny earnings.
“We’ve got a lot of runners that are in motion right now that are going to do some real good for us,” Strohkirch said. “And we’ve got some coming for next year from really nice mares. It’s too bad he’s not going to be around.”
Strohkirch said Supremo foals have been known to show a good deal of precociousness.
“They’re a little hard to break,” he said. “But once you get them broke, they’re the nicest horses to be around. They really are aggressive on the track.”
Joe Nevills is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer.
