Not For Love dead at 26

Not For Love, a perennial leading sire in Maryland and prominent broodmare sire, died Sunday due to complications from colic. He was 26.

A son of Mr. Prospector out of the Northern Dancer mare Dance Number, Not For Love had been residing at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md., where he was pensioned in March 2015. He was a member of the Northview stallion roster since entering stud in 1996.

Bred in Kentucky by Ogden Mills Phipps, Not For Love hailed from one of the Phipps family's top broodmare lines and was a half-brother to champion 2-year-old Rhythm. He raced as a homebred for his first three campaigns under trainer Shug McGaughey, winning a maiden race in his second start at Belmont, later becoming allowance winner on dirt and turf, and finishing third in the Bob Harding Stakes on the turf at Monmouth Park.

Prior to his 5-year-old campaign, Not For Love was sold to Richard Golden, President and CEO of Northview Stallion Station, and transferred to the barn of Graham Motion, for whom he won a pair of allowance races in Maryland before being retired to stud. He finished his on-track career with 6 wins in 29 stats for earnings of $178,870.

Not For Love then went on to a historic stallion career that saw him finish as the state’s leading sire by progeny earnings and juvenile earnings. He is also the leading sire of winners for the state’s signature Maryland Million program, with 34 winners, including six in headlining Maryland Million Classic.

He was North America’s leading sire standing outside of Kentucky for eight consecutive years, and was named Maryland Stallion of the Year a record 13 times.

His impact was felt almost immediately, when a colt from his first crop, La Salle Street, sold for $2 million at the 1999 Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale. La Salle Street ranks as the second-most expensive horse to ever change hands at the Keeneland April sale.

Not For Love ultimately sired 19 crops, with his final 19 foals being yearlings of 2016. He has sired 634 winners and has combined progeny earnings of more than $72 million.

The stallion’s top runners include 12-time stakes winner and millionaire Eighttofasttocatch and 11-time stakes winner Smart and Fancy. His 13 graded stakes winners include Grade 2 winners Duckhorn and Love of Money, and Grade 3 winners Presidentialaffair, Talkin About Love, Akronism, and Sheila’s Prospect.

Not For Love currently sits atop Maryland’s sire list by earnings for 2016, with 27 winners and $790,175, nearly $100,000 more than the next-closest stallion.

As a broodmare sire, Not For Love is best known for siring Love the Chase, dam of Horse of the Year, dual classic winner, and Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome.

Other notable products of Not For Love’s broodmare sire record include Grade 1 winner Starship Truffles, Panamanian Group 2 winner Coqueto Del Ocho, Grade 1-placed stakes winner Constellation, and multiple Grade 2-placed But for Money.

Sons of Not For Love at stud include Cuba, Duckhorn, North Potomac, and Private Scandal in the U.S. and Eternal Champion in Korea.