Group 1 winner Creator dead at 29

Group 1 winner Creator was euthanized Feb. 28 at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., due to complications from colic. The Mill Reef horse was 29.

Creator had been pensioned at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., since 2004, when he was retired from stud duty in Japan and shipped to the U.S. He and the champion Sunshine Forever – who died in January 2014 – were the first stallions the prominent Thoroughbred aftercare organization returned from stud duty overseas.

"Creator was not only a magnificent animal, he was one of the founding fathers of Old Friends," the organization’s founder and President Michael Blowen said. "Every time we lose one of the horses, it's as if they take a little part of our lives with them. And yesterday, Creator took an enormous chunk with him."

A British-born horse who raced as a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Creator won 7 of 16 career starts for earnings of $550,537. He won six stakes in France, including Group 1 scores in the Prix Ganay and Prix D’Ispahan. He also was Grade 1 placed in the U.S.

At stud, Creator sired 164 winners for combined progeny earnings of $21,869,658, led by the Japanese Group 2 winner Tanino Create and Group 3 winner Aloha Dream.