Obituaries | Horse Racing Free Tips

Broodmare Of The Year Leslie’s Lady Dies At Age 26

Leslie's Lady, the 2016 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year and arguably the most influential broodmare of the current North American breeding landscape, died Monday morning at age 26, BloodHorse reports.

The flagship broodmare for Clarkland Farm had been residing as a pensioner at the Lexington, Ky., operation after retiring from production last spring.

The names under Leslie's Lady's produce record comprise some of the most important names in the stakes book, the sale catalog, and the stud book over the past two decades: Grade 1 winner and record-setting sire Into Mischief; four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder; $3-million yearling, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and popular young stallion Mendelssohn; $8.2-million yearling America's Joy; $1.1-million yearling Leslie's Harmony; leading California freshman sire Curlin to Mischief; and black type producers Judy B, Victory Party, and Daisy Mason.

Bred in Kentucky by David E. Hager II, the daughter of Tricky Creek sold as a short yearling for $8,000 at the 1997 Keeneland January sale, then went to James T. Hines Jr. for $27,000 later that year at the Keeneland September sale. She was then placed in the barn of trainer Robert Holthus, with whom she won five of 28 starts, highlighted by a victory in the listed Hoosier Debutante Stakes at Hoosier Park during her 2-year-old season.

Leslie's Lady entered Hines' breeding program after retiring from the racetrack, and she was initially unspectacular. She aborted her first foal after meeting Marquetry, then her first two foals never earned black type.

She was part of the first book for stallion Harlan's Holiday in 2004, and she produced the colt that would become Into Mischief the following March.

Hines died in February 2006, and Leslie's Lady was offered as part of his dispersal at that year's Keeneland November sale, where he sold to Clarkland Farm for $100,000. Into Mischief, meanwhile, took a detour through Indiana on his road to the history books.

Leslie's Lady earned Kentucky Broodmare of the Year honors from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in 2016 after a season where Beholder, by Henny Hughes, won the Breeders' Cup Distaff and the Eclipse Award for champion older female.

While Clarkland Farm bred Leslie's Lady primarily for the commercial market, the operation retained the mare's final two foals, both of them fillies, to preserve her female line in their program.

Marr Time, a 3-year-old by Not This Time, was a debut winner last fall, taking a Keeneland maiden special weight by 2 3/4 lengths. Her final foal is the unraced Kantharos juvenile Love You Irene.

In total, Leslie's Lady has produced seven winners from nine starters to date, with combined on-track earnings of more than $9.5 million. Her foals have brought a combined $14,187,000 at public auction.

Leslie's Lady was buried near the entrance of Clarkland Farm.

Champion British Idiom Dies In Japan At Age Four

British Idiom, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2019, died on Oct. 1, 2021 in Japan, per Japanese Studbook Database records.

A cause of death was not listed for the 4-year-old daughter of Flashback, who was pregnant for the first time to Japanese champion Duramente. The stallion died in September after a battle with colitis. A cause of death was not listed for British Idiom.

British Idiom was sold privately to the Yoshida family's Northern Farm in June 2020, and she arrived in Japan in September of that year.

Trained by Brad Cox for the partnership of Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and the Elkstone Group, British Idiom went undefeated during her championship 2-year-old campaign, taking her debut at Saratoga by 3 1/2 lengths, then shipping to Keeneland to trounce the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths. She entered the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park as the betting public's second choice, and she wore down favorite Donna Veloce to prevail by a neck and secure the Eclipse Award.

After a three-month break, British Idiom started her 3-year-old season with a runner-up effort in the G2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds. Her final start came in the G3 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park, where she finished 10th and exited the race with a chip in her right-front ankle.

The filly retired with three wins in five starts for earnings of $1,442,139.

British Idiom was bred in Kentucky by Hargus and Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm, out of the stakes-winning Mr. Sekiguchi mare Rose and Shine. She sold as a yearling for $40,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.

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Vero Amore, Dam Of Champion Vequist, Dies Of Colic

Tom and Sue McGrath's Swilcan Stables reported this morning that the graded stakes-placed mare Vero Amore died Thursday night, Jan. 20, due to complications from colic while in foal to Nyquist and carrying a full sibling to Vequist, winner of the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and that year's Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly.

“I am so sorry to announce the passing of Vero Amore,” McGrath said. “She was an amazing competitor and an equally amazing mare. Needless to say, we are devastated.”

A 2011 mare by Mineshaft out of Summers Edge, by The Cliff's Edge, Vero Amore finished second for trainer Robert Reid Jr. in the $500,000 Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes in 2014, beaten just neck by multiple Grade 1 winner Stopchargingmaria. Bred in Kentucky by Robert LaPenta and campaigned by Swilcan Stables, Vero Amore amassed earnings of $252,255 while hitting the board in 11 of 16 lifetime starts during her splendid racing career.

A blue-hen mare for Swilcan Stables, Vero Amore is the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Vequist, who captured the G1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga prior to annexing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to secure her championship. Bred by Swilcan Stables and owned by Swilcan Stables in partnership with Gary Barber and Wachtel Stable, Vequist earned $1,237,500 before selling to Spendthrift Farm for $3.4 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale.

Vero Amore also produced Mainstay, a daughter of Astern (AUS) who was named a TDN Rising Star following a sparkling 7 3/4-length maiden special weight triumph in her career debut for Swilcan Stables and LC Racing at Monmouth Park in 2021, and she has a promising 2-year-old filly by Daredevil named Vedareo who will seek to continue the family's winning ways.

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Trainer Larry Stroope, Longtime Texas Racing Supporter, Passes

Thoroughbred trainer Larry Stroope died suddenly on Friday, Jan. 7. The well-respected conditioner was a longtime supporter of Texas racing and always prominent on Texas Champions Day. His stakes winners included Sylvia Baird's Smiles Golden Song and Discreet Smile and Bonjour Baby, owned by Alvin Wong.

Jockey Sasha Risenhoover rode many horses for Stroope and, like so many in the Texas racing community, was devastated by his passing.

“I just can't believe it,” she said. “I just worked horses for him last week. Larry and I made a great team; he was not only an excellent trainer, but had a heart of gold. He was always a supporter of female jockeys and riding Bonjour Baby meant so much to me.”

Memorial services for Stroope have not been announced.

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