Lost Soldier, sire of Lost in the Fog, dies

Lost Soldier, sire of 2005 sprint champion Lost in the Fog, died Tuesday at Buck Pond Farm in Versailles, Ky., apparently of a heart attack.

A Danzig horse, Lost Soldier was 20 and was advertised this season with a $5,000 stud fee.

“It looks like he went down for a nap and simply didn’t get back up,” said Doug Arnold, who owns Buck Pond and also owned Lost Soldier. “He didn’t have a mark on him. There were no signs of any struggle.”

A son of Lady Winborne, Lost Soldier was a half-brother to Grade 1 winner and producer La Gueriere, dam of Icon Project ad Lasting Approval, and to Grade 1 winner Al Mamoon, among others.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum paid $500,000 for Lost Soldier, then a weanling. For Maktoum, Lost Soldier was second in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Royal Ascot and in the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct. Maktoum sold Lost Soldier in 1995 to John Franks, for who the horse finished third in the Damascus Handicap. For Franks, he went on to win Grade 3 Lousisana Downs Handicap and the Maxxam Gold Cup in 1996 and 1997, respectively. He also set two records under Franks’s ownership. At Sam Houston in the Maxxam Gold Cup, he set a 1 1/8-mile track record of 1:48.75. He also set a Woodbine course record of 1:32.80 for a mile in 1996.

After a career that took him to England, Dubai, and throughout North America, Lost Soldier retired with 11 wins from 45 starts and earnings of $434,089.

In addition to Lost in the Fog, he also sired millionaire and multiple graded winner Soldier’s Dancer, Grade 3 winners Lush Soldier and Lost at Sea, and 13 other stakes-winners.

He has been buried at Buck Pond.