Breeding & Racing Magazine

Leading US Sire El Prado Dies Aged 20

Also in Kentucky, Irish-bred 20-year-old sire El Prado (Sadler's Wells-Lady Capulet, by Sir Ivor) "the horse that inspired Frank Stronach to get involved in the stallion business, died of an apparent heart attack in his paddock at Adena Springs," reported bloodhorse.com. Adena's Dermot Carty bought El Prado privately for Stronach in the early 1990s from Coolmore Stud; Brereton Jones initially stood the stallion on Stronach's behalf at his Airdrie Stud & when Stronach launched his Adena Spring's stallion operation, El Prado was one of the 1st sires to stand there. Carty recalled: "No one wanted a son of Sadler's Wells in America. Everyone saw him as just a grass horse, but now he's a broodmare sire, a sire of sires & he's made history. It was a gamble: to buy a son of Sadler's Wells was a major move, but it paid off." On the track, El Prado won Ireland's 1991 Gr1 National Stakes & 2 other Irish group races for Robert Sangster on his way to being named Ireland's 2YO champion male. As a sire, his star offspring include 2004 champion grass horse Kitten's Joy, triple Gr1-winning Darley stallion & leading US 2nd-crop sire Medaglia d'Oro, 2005 Gr1 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Artie Schiller & dual Gr1-winner Borrego. This season he is currently 16th on the leading North American sires list, with 62 winners from 151 runners for US$4.5 million earnings; internationally, his 2009 starts include French Gr1-winner Spanish Moon. Carty noted El Prado had experienced "declining fertility in recent years & had bred a little more than 40 mares in 2009" at a US$75,000 fee.