Utopia dies in Turkey

Utopia, a Japanese Group 1 winner and former U.S. stallion, died of an apparent heart attack at the Jockey Club of Turkey’s Karacabey National Stud in Bursa, Turkey.

The 15-year-old son of Forty Niner debuted at stud in 2008 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and stood there until being purchased by Turkish breeder Serdar Kemal Ozcolak in June 2014.

According to Turkish publication Yaris Dergisi, Utopia covered about 55 mares in his first and only season at stud in the country, where he stood for an advertised fee of $2,978 (8,000 Turkish Lira).

Bred in Japan by Northern Farm, Utopia won nine of 34 starts for earnings of $4,913,585. He spent the bulk of his career racing in his native country, where he won the Group 3 Unicorn Stakes and was Group 1-placed.

Utopia then traveled to Dubai, where he won the Group 2 Godolphin Mile and was later purchased by Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum’s Godolphin Racing. He was then sent to the U.S., where he won the Grade 3 Westchester Handicap and finished second in the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap.

Utopia has sired five crops of racing age, with 125 winners and combined progeny earnings of more than $8.43 million. His best runners include New York stakes winners My Jopia, Free Mugatu, Matchmadeinheaven, Champagne Ruby, I’ll Stake U.