Pancho Villa dies at Texas farm

Pancho Villa, a multiple graded winner and sire of Grade 1 winner Do It With Style, died Monday at Dr. and Mrs. Steve Hicks's Cedarcrest Farm near Palestine, Texas, apparently of a heart attack.

Steve Hicks said Tuesday that the 24-year-old stallion had been preparing to cover his first mare of the season when he collapsed and died.

Pancho Villa, a son of Secretariat and a full brother to Storm Cat's dam, Terlingua, stood his first season at Cedarcrest in 1995. The Hickses had purchased him from Gainesway Stud in Kentucky.

Pancho Villa covered 15 mares in 2005. He currently has progeny earnings of more than $14.8 million.

D. Wayne Lukas purchased Pancho Villa as a yearling for $1.8 million for himself and Lloyd French Jr. The horse went on to win five graded stakes, most notably the 1985 Grade 2 Bay Shore and Silver Screen. He retired with a record of 7-5-0 from 18 starts and $596,734 in earnings.

Pancho Villa will be buried at Cedarcrest.