More Than Ready, a Grade 1 winner who became a prominent sire on two continents and one of the most successful stallions in the history of the Breeders' Cup, was euthanized Friday at WinStar Farm "due to the cumulative effects of old age." The son of Southern Halo was 25. “More Than Ready was an amazing horse who touched everyone he came in contact with,” Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar, said in a press release. “He may not have been the biggest horse in the barn, but he more than made up for it in class, balance, and character. His expressions said it all. We will greatly miss him at the farm.” More Than Ready was bred in Kentucky by Woodlynn Farm and was a $187,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Ed Rosen, on behalf of owner James Scatuorchio. The colt was a precocious juvenile who was among the early standouts in the career of trainer Todd Pletcher, winning his first five starts in 1999, including the WHAS-11 Stakes, Flash Stakes, Grade 3 Tremont Stakes, and Grade 2 Sanford Stakes. He finished third in the Grade 1 Futurity before running fifth in the Grade 1 Champagne to end that campaign. More Than Ready opened his 3-year-old season by winning the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes, then continued to acquit himself well at longer distances, finishing a game second in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, second in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, and fourth in the Kentucky Derby. After finishing second in the Grade 2 Dwyer and fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, More Than Ready cut back to shorter distances for the remainder of his career. He broke through with a 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga, then was second in his first try against older horses in the Grade 1 Vosburgh, beaten a half-length. He finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and fourth in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, retiring that fall with earnings of $1,026,229. More Than Ready initially stood at Tom Simon’s Vinery Farm in Kentucky. When Simon announced he was closing his breeding and training operations in the United States in 2012, he arranged to have seven stallions – More Than Ready, Pioneerof the Nile, Kodiak Kowboy, Maimonides, Congrats, Pure Prize, and Street Hero – relocated to WinStar in Versailles, Ky. More Than Ready also shuttled from Kentucky to Vinery Stud in Australia for the Southern Hemisphere season, making his initial trip in 2001. His final Southern Hemisphere foals are yearlings this season. Meanwhile, More Than Ready was still an active stallion in Kentucky this year, meaning he will have additional crops on the racetrack. “To me, he was more than a great stallion, he was a great friend,” longtime WinStar stallion manager Larry McGinnis said. “It was an honor to take care of such a remarkable horse. I will miss him.” More Than Ready is recognized as one of the youngest stallions in history to attain the milestones of 100 stakes winners and 1,000 career winners – and he kept going. According to Equineline statistics, the stallion was the sire of 2,095 winners – including 223 stakes winners, with 107 of those being graded/group winners – through Friday. His progeny earnings stand at more than $219 million. More Than Ready's stakes winners include the winners of seven Breeders' Cup races, giving him more wins than any other stallion in the history of the event. The Breeders’ Cup was inaugurated as a single-day seven-race program in 1984. It made the first addition to its program with the Filly and Mare Turf in 1999 and expanded to two days beginning in 2007. The current two-day program includes 14 Breeders’ Cup races. More Than Ready won a pair of Breeders' Cup races in 2010 with More Than Real in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Pluck in the Juvenile Turf; they helped make him the leading 2-year-old sire that season. He went on to sire 2011 Turf Sprint winner Regally Ready; 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Rushing Fall; Roy H, who won back-to-back editions of the Sprint in 2017 and 2018; and, most recently, 2019 Mile winner Uni. Just behind More Than Ready, with six wins each at the Breeders' Cup, are the late Sadler's Wells and Unbridled's Song, and the still-active Tapit and Into Mischief. Roy H, Rushing Fall, and Uni all earned Eclipse Award championships in North America for More Than Ready, who also is the sire of Canadian champion and Grade 1 winner Say the Word. His other Grade 1 winners in the United States are Buster's Ready, Catholic Boy, Daredevil, Funtastic, and Verrazano. In Australia, More Than Ready's runners are led by champion More Joyous, an eight-time Group 1 winner who bankrolled more than $4.5 million to rank as her sire's leading career earner. The stallion also is represented by Australian champions Phelan Ready, Samaready, and Sebring; Phelan Ready and Sebring both won the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes to help their sire rank as the leading juvenile sire in Australia in both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He also is the sire of additional Australian Group 1 winners Benicio, Carrie On Cutie, Dreamaway, Eagle Way, More Than Sacred, Perfect Reflection, and Prized Icon. In More Than Ready's eclectic stud career, he also is the sire of international champions including Forbidden Prince in Puerto Rico, More Than Words in Peru, Entisaar in South Africa, An Serafini in Venezuela, and Ready to Attack in Mauritius. More Than Ready, a grandson of the great sire Halo, has been one of the most prominent stallions remaining in the United States from that sireline. Halo's greatest son was Sunday Silence, a breed-shaping sire in Japan. More Than Ready's sons at stud include Daredevil, who, from his first crop, sired 2020 Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil and 2020 Preakness Stakes winner and divisional champion Swiss Skydiver. Following that success, Daredevil, who had been acquired by the Turkish Jockey Club, was re-patriated to stand at Lane’s End Farm. Daredevil's first return crop arrived this year. Meanwhile, More Than Ready has several other sons in the pipeline, including current freshman sire Funtastic (Three Chimneys Farm); Catholic Boy (Claiborne Farm) and graded stakes winner Copper Bullet (Darby Dan Farm) both have their first yearlings this year. As a broodmare sire, More Than Ready is represented by 88 stakes winners and 15 Grade 1 winners worldwide, including 2022 Grade 1 winner Regal Glory.