Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Johar dies after paddock accident
Johar, winner of the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Turf, died Monday after suffering a paddock injury at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Ky. The son of Gone West was 15.
Homebred in Kentucky by The Thoroughbred Corp. and trained by Richard Mandella, Johar won six of 11 career starts over two seasons of racing for earnings of $1,494,496. He debuted at age 3 and staged a campaign highlighted by wins in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby and Grade 2 Oak Tree Derby. Johar followed up at age 4 with a dead heat for the win in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita, hitting the line at the same time as High Chaparral.
Johar suffered a suspensory injury the following spring while preparing for a 5-year-old campaign and was retired, with Richard Santulli and George Prussin purchasing him privately. He debuted at stud at Mill Ridge Farm in 2005 and has sired seven crops of racing age with 212 winners and combined progeny earnings of more than $14.7 million.
Johar’s runners are led by Canadian champion Tu Endie Wei, Grade 1 winner Joha, Grade 2 winner No Jet Lag, Grade 3 winner Keertana, and Peruvian champion Ayahuasca. He also stood two Southern Hemisphere seasons in New Zealand, which yielded runners including Australian Group 1 winner Guiseppina and Group 2 winner Folding Gear, as well as New Zealand Group 2 winners Fazzle and Hiace, and Group 3 winner Veronica Franco.
“It is a sad day for us to inform the passing of Johar,” said Headley Bell, managing partner of Mill Ridge Farm. “He was with us a long time having been raised at Mill Ridge and bred and raced by Thoroughbred Corp. He reached the pinnacle of racing, dead heating in the Breeders’ Cup Turf with High Chaparral and as a sire with Grade 1 winner Joha. We will miss him here at Mill Ridge.”
Johar was out of the Canadian champion Windsharp, whose four winners from six foals to race also included Grade 1 winner Dessert. The family also includes Grade 1 winner Court Ruling.
Johar will be buried at Mill Ridge alongside Gone West.