Grade 1 winner Bowies Hero euthanized

Bowies Hero, the winner of two Grade 1 races in a 28-race career, was euthanized on Monday from complications of laminitis, trainer Phil D’Amato said.

Bowies Hero was undergoing treatment at a Southern California veterinary clinic in recent weeks, following concern about an infection in his right foreleg. D’Amato said the 7-year-old horse had responded to recent treatment before his health took a recent turn for the worse.

“He had good days and bad days,” D’Amato said on Monday afternoon.

“It’s a hard situation. It’s a tough loss for the entire barn, the owners. He will be greatly missed.”

Co-owned by the partnership of Agave Racing, Erik Johnson, Madaket Stable and Rockin Robin Racing, Bowies Hero finished fifth in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Jan. 2 in his final start.

Bowies Hero won seven stakes from 2016 to 2019, including the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March 2018 and the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland in October 2019. Bowies Hero earned $1,592,720.

Through his career, Bowies Hero started in two Breeders’ Cup races, finishing 11th in the 2016 Juvenile Turf and fifth in the 2019 Mile.

--additional reporting by Jay Privman