Beau Genius, Grade 1 winner and pensioned sire, euthanized at 29

Grade 1 winner and pensioned sire Beau Genius was euthanized July 25 at Ballena Vista Farm in Ramona, Calif., due to declining health. He was 29.

Homebred in Ontario by Dr. Brian Davidson, the son of Bold Ruckus won 19 of 42 races over four seasons and earned $1,055,600. His 13 stakes wins included victories in the Grade 1 Philip H. Iselin Handicap and the Grade 2 Michigan Mile and One-Eighth, both in 1990. On Jan. 20 of that year, Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker scored the final win of his career aboard Beau Genius in the Hallandale Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Davidson co-owned Beau Genius with Joseph Shiewitz for the bulk of the horse’s racing career. Beau Genius was trained Gerald Belanger Jr., Charles Payne, and Gerald Bennett.

Beau Genius retired to Vinery in Lexington, Ky., for the 1991 breeding season. His first crop yielded Irish Group 1 winner Belle Genius and Grade 3 winner Gentleman Beau. He was relocated to Ballena Vista Farm prior to the 2001 breeding season and was pensioned in 2009.

Beau Genius was represented by his first U.S. Grade 1 winner just two days after his death, when Big Macher upset Goldencents to win the Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar. Other leading runners by Beau Genius include Grade 2 winner Beau’s Town and Grade 3 winner My Creed.

In total, Beau Genius sired 468 winners and 41 stakes winners over 19 crops for progeny earnings surpassing $35.3 million.

“Beau Genius was a champion sire, a near-champion racehorse, and was 100 percent class,” said Don Cohn, owner of Ballena Vista Farm. “He thoroughly enjoyed his breeding career, his retirement, and his life of a champion. We at the firm, the California racing community, and the entire racing industry will deeply miss the presence and influence of Beau Genius.”

Beau Genius was out of the stakes-placed Viceregal mare Royal Colleen, whose four winners from six foals to race also included Grade 2 winner and Canadian classic-placed Kathie’s Colleen, the dam of late Canadian champion and sire Wando.