Owner-breeder Melnyk hospitalized, needs liver transplant

Prominent owner-breeder Eugene Melnyk, who announced last summer he would disperse his Thoroughbred stock, has been hospitalized due to liver complications and is in need of an organ transplant. Melnyk, 55, also is the owner of the NHL team the Ottawa Senators.

On Thursday, the team released a statement regarding Melnyk’s health.

“Mr. Melnyk has been sick and battling major health issues since mid-January,” the statement read. “Since then, his medical care and treatment have been the sole focus for him and his family. Mr. Melnyk was admitted to hospital three weeks ago as a result of the onset of liver-related complications. He has undergone a comprehensive medical assessment, and it has been determined that Mr. Melnyk is in urgent need of a liver transplant.”

According to the statement, the Melnyk family is in hopes of finding a live liver donor for Melnyk. The process involves the removal of a portion of the living donor’s liver – an organ that is able to regenerate – so it can be transplanted into the recipient patient. A suitable donor has not yet been found.

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s National Owner of the Year in 2005, Melnyk won the Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding owner in 2007 and 2009 and also was named outstanding breeder in 2009.

Melnyk’s top runners included the millionaire Speightstown, who captured the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Sprint to earn the Eclipse Award as outstanding sprinter, and Flower Alley, who won the 2005 Travers Stakes and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Horses campaigned by Melnyk have combined to win all three legs of Canada’s Triple Crown. He also bred and raced the 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year and Triple Tiara winner Sealy Hill.