Lion Heart, Haskell winner and Ky. Derby runner-up, dead at 22

Multiple Grade 1 winner and successful sire Lion Heart has died in Turkey, where he has stood at stud for more than a decade. The Jockey Club of Turkey wrote in a release that the stallion “died due to circulatory disorder caused by heart failure.” The son of the Storm Cat horse Tale of the Cat was 22.

Lion Heart, a $1.4 million purchase by Coolmore interests as a 2-year-old, won all three of his starts that juvenile season, including the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue and Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity. The following year, he was second in the Grade 2 San Rafael and Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, beaten just half a length in the latter, heading toward the Triple Crown series.

In the Kentucky Derby, Lion Heart set a swift pace over the sloppy track and led into the stretch before behind overhauled by 2 3/4 lengths by the then-unbeaten Smarty Jones. He was fourth in the Preakness Stakes behind that same champion.

After a brief freshening, Lion Heart returned to action to win the Grade 3 Long Branch Breeders' Cup Stakes at Monmouth, the local prep for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. He won that summer showcase by a length. Lion Heart then finished seventh in the Grade 1 Travers, which proved his career finale.

Lion Heart entered stud at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky in 2005, then was sold to the Turkish Jockey Club in late 2010, debuting in that country the following season. The stallion is the sire of 52 stakes winners worldwide to date. In North America, his best runners include millionaire Uncaptured, a multiple graded stakes winner and Canadian Horse of the Year as a juvenile, and then winner of the classic Prince of Wales the following season. Lion Heart also sired 2010 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Dangerous Midge and Grade 1 winners Bradester, Line of David, and Tom's Tribute.

In his adopted country of Turkey, Lion Heart's progeny are led by champion filly Last Chance Lady. He is also the sire of Jamaican champion Ronron.

Lion Heart leaves behind his own moderately successful branch of the Storm Cat sireline. His sons at stud are led by Kantharos, an unbeaten graded stakes winner as a juvenile, who stands at Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Kentucky. Kantharos is the sire of Grade 1 winners World of Trouble and X Y Jet, and graded stakes winners Ancient Secret, Bucchero, Jackson, Lady Grace, and Mr. Jordan. World of Trouble now stands alongside Kantharos at Hill 'n' Dale, and recorded his first winner from his first crop earlier this month. Meanwhile, Bucchero is a promising young sire at Pleasant Acres in Florida, finishing in the top 20 freshmen nationally last year.

Lion Heart's other active sons in the U.S. are millionaire Bourbon Courage at Anchor and Hope Farm in Maryland; Bradester at Valor Farm in Texas; and Tom's Tribute at Rancho San Miguel in California. Line of David stood in Kentucky and Louisiana before being pensioned; his best runner was Grade 3 winner Firing Line, second to American Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby. Firing Line stands at Crestwood Farm in Kentucky.

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