Pensioned Gainesway Stallion Orientate Dies At 28

Champion sprinter and prominent sire Orientate was euthanized August 17, at Gainesway Farm due to the infirmities of old age. He was 28.

The son of Mt. Livermore was bred in Kentucky by Gainesway. Orientate was purchased by Bob and Beverly Lewis for $250,000 at the 1999 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and placed in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. After showing early versatility with stakes wins on both dirt and turf at age three, Orientate found his peak form as a four-year-old sprinter in 2002. He capped a dominant campaign with consecutive victories in the Commonwealth Breeders' Cup Stakes (G2), Aristides Handicap (G3), Smile Sprint Handicap, A. G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2), Forego Handicap (G1), and a decisive triumph in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). His 2002 campaign earned him the Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter, completing a career in which he retired with 10 wins from 19 starts and $1,716,950 in earnings.

Orientate launched his stud career at Gainesway in 2003 before standing five seasons at Northview Stallion Station in Maryland. Over 15 crops of racing age, he sired 562 winners of 2,214 races with progeny earnings surpassing $51.6 million. His top runners include three-time Grade 1-winning sprinter Intangaroo and Alabama Stakes (G1) winner Lady Joanne, alongside Grade/Group 1 winners Declassify and Lady Sprinter. He also established a lasting legacy as a broodmare sire, featuring on the maternal side of Eclipse Award winners Shanghai Bobby and Jaywalk.

"Orientate was a special horse to everyone at Gainesway," said Gainesway’s Antony Beck. "To breed a champion of his caliber, watch him achieve greatness on the track, stand stud at the farm, and then have him return home to live out his pensioned years was a true privilege. He was a class act through and through and will be dearly missed."

Orientate returned to Gainesway in 2018 to reside as a pensioner at the farm where he was born. He will be buried on the farm grounds.