Hinchinbrook Dies Following Exercise Accident

Yarraman Park Stud has been dealt a huge blow on the eve of the Southern Hemisphere breeding season with the sudden and freak death of their top-class stallion Hinchinbrook.

The son of Fastnet Rock would have been entering his eighth year at stud, but died after suffering a broken hind leg while on the walking machine at the Hunter Valley farm July 16.

"We are devastated as you can imagine," Yarraman Park Stud principal Harry Mitchell said.

"He's been a special horse for us and we believed in him from the start. He wasn't an easy horse to get going as he was not the most fertile, but he kept proving himself and getting that good horse.

"It just breaks your heart, but it's something that happens. It happened to Northern Meteor and it happened to Scat Daddy. As sad as it is, you have to regroup and move on."

A half brother brother to champion sire Snitzel, Hinchinbrook was crowned Australia's champion first season sire of 2014-15 and has produced 14 individual stakes winners, including the group 1 scorers Press Statement and Seabrook.

The former now stands at Vinery Stud and it was his emergence as a top-level performer that drove Hinchinbrook's profile ever higher. His introductory service fee of AU$16,500 (about US$12,200) jumped to AU$38,500 in 2016 and AU$44,000 in 2017. He was to stand for AU$55,000 (about $40,500) this year.

He is currently 15th on the Australian leading general sires' table with 100 winners for earnings of $6,311,806. He was foaled and raised at Yarraman Park Stud for his breeder Francois Naude before joining his elite barnmate I Am Invincible on the stallion roster at the completion of his racing career.

Hinchinbrook, whose eldest progeny are rising 6-year-olds, was to be one of three stallions on Yarraman Park Stud's roster this year, with newcomer Hellbent joining his sire I Am Invincible at stud.