Quick Call euthanized at age 35

Quick Call, a beloved resident of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's pioneering Second Chance Program at Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York, was euthanized on Tuesday due to the infirmities of old age. The son of Quack was 35.

In a release reporting the gelding’s death, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) said that Quick Call will be buried at Clare Court on the backstretch of Saratoga Race Course, the historic track about two hours from Wallkill that Quick Call was fond of and where he was particularly beloved. The gelding was a multiple graded stakes winner at Saratoga, where a race named for him was inaugurated in 2008. He will be buried alongside the “Sultan of Saratoga” Fourstardave, along with A Phenomenon and Mourjane, at Clare Court.

Racing from ages 2 to 8, Quick Call compiled a record of 86-16-15-12 for earnings of $807,817 for owner Lynda Stokes. He won 10 of 17 outings at Saratoga, including victories in the 1988 and 1989 Forego Handicap, then a Grade 2 race. He also finished second in the 1990 Forego and second in the 1989 A Phenomenon Stakes at the track.

Quick Call, who was trained during his career by Sid Watters and Jimmy Croll, won or placed in 13 black-type stakes total, also winning the Grade 2 Tom Fool Stakes in 1990 at Belmont.

After his retirement from racing following the 1992 season, Quick Call was a riding horse for several years before arriving at the TRF in 2001, becoming an equine teacher in the Second Chances program. The Wallkill program has provided aftercare to hundreds of retired Thoroughbreds, via inmates who tend to them via the development of TRF's state-accredited vocational training course in horse care and management. This innovative approach has become the prototype for other TRF programs and a model for other organizations.

At the time of his death, Quick Call was the oldest horse in TRF's 650-member herd nationwide.

"He was truly an exceptional horse, and served as a shining example of the versatility of the Thoroughbred breed," TRF said in a release. "With 86 starts under his girth, he was a war horse with a brave, strong heart and mind. He became a poster horse for aftercare, serving as an ambassador for all retired Thoroughbred racehorses.”