Mat-Boy, Argentine champion, dies

Mat-Boy, a two-time Grade 1 winner, Argentine Horse of the Year, and prominent Argentine sire, has died in his native Argentina, according to trade reports. A son of Matun, he was 28 and died after colicking at Carlos Blaquier's Haras La Biznaga, where he was pensioned.

Winner of the Grade 1 Gran Premio International Republica Argentina and Gran Premio de Honor in 1983, he was named Horse of the Year in Argentina. In the United States the following year, he won the Widener by 12 lengths and took Gulfstream Park Handicap in track-record time of 1:59 for 1 1/4 miles.

As a sire, Mat-Boy is perhaps best known in the States for his son Festin, a dual Grade 1 winner here in 1991 and now a sire in Argentina.