Dixie Brass found dead at 13

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Dixie Brass, a longtime leading New York sire and a Grade 1 winner, was found dead in his stall on Monday at The Stallion Park in Millbrook, N.Y. He was 13.

An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death, which came only weeks before the start of the breeding season.

Michael Watral owned Dixie Brass during his racing campaign and his stud career, which began in 1993. A son of Dixieland Band, Dixie Brass won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile, Grade 2 Withers, and Swift Stakes and retired with earnings of $631,563 at the end of his 3-year-old season.

At stud, Dixie Brass was the sire of 25 stakes winners, including Dixie Dot Com, a winner of more than $1.3 million and a track-record holder, and Princess Dixie, a multiple stakes winner as a 2-year-old last year.

Of the sires to stand the 2001 breeding season in New York, Dixie Brass was the leader in progeny earnings with more than $4 million. From seven crops, Dixie Brass's runners have won more than $14.6 million.

Dixie Brass was scheduled to stand the upcoming breeding season for $10,000, one of the higher stud fees in New York.