Flatterer, champion steeplechaser and Hall of Fame member, dead at 35

Four-time champion steeplechaser Flatterer was euthanized on April 24 at owner Bill Pape’s My Way Farm in Unionville, Pa., according to a report on thisishorseracing.com. The Pennsylvania-bred son of Mo Bay was 35, and had become the oldest-living member of the Racing Hall of Fame of all time last February when he surpassed the longevity standard set by 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.

Flatterer dominated his division during the early 1980s, winning four consecutive Eclipse Awards from 1983-1986. He was bred by Pape and leading steeplechase trainer Jonathan Sheppard, and captured 13 stakes overall under their management, including four editions of the Colonial Cup Invitational.

Flatterer set an American record when he carried 176 pounds in winning the 1986 National Hunt Cup, and also placed in two champion hurdle stakes in France and England during the mid-1980s. He was retired to My Way Farm in 1987 with 24 wins in 51 starts and $538,708 in earnings.

“To have a horse like him is a dream of a lifetime,” Pape told thisishorseracing.com’s Joe Clancy. “I equate him to Secretariat and horses like that on the flat world. He was Secretariat over fences. You couldn’t have asked for more from a horse.”