Glitterman euthanized at age 26

Glitterman, a world record-setting sprinter who sired such Grade 1 winners as Balto Star and Glitter Woman, was euthanized late Thursday afternoon because of increasing age-related arthritis. A 26-year-old Dewan stallion, Glitterman had been pensioned at the Old Friends equine retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky.

“He was just such a pro,” Michael Blowen, the president of Old Friends, said Friday afternoon. “He had such stature. We took him out and fed him grass, and that was the last thing he did, was eat that grass. He’d been getting a little slower over the past few months because he had these bone chips. You can put up with that stuff when you’re younger, but it gets worse when you’re older. So we picked a sunny day, late in the afternoon.”

Glitterman won five stakes between 1988 and 1990, most notably the Grade 3 Philadelphia Park Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Handicap in 1990. He placed in six other stakes, including the Grade 1 Vosburgh, also in 1990. But he was best remembered for setting a world record on May 20, 1989, when he won a 5 1/2-furlong allowance race on Hialeah’s turf course in 1:01.6.

Glitterman went on to sire four millionaires. They were Balto Star, who set a Monmouth 1 3/8-mile course record of 2:12.78 in 2003; Glitter Woman, winner of the 1997 Ashland Stakes; and multiple graded winners Champali and J J’sdream. His progeny earnings stand at more than $39 million.

Glitterman was pensioned from stud duty in 2005.

DRF MORNING LINE: Get out of the gate fast every day - sign up for DRF's free newsletter