Golden Slipper Winner and Sire Sebring Dies at 13

AAMI Golden Slipper Stakes (G1) winner Sebring died suddenly Feb. 23, leaving Widden Stud to deal with the loss of its top-class sire and arguably More Than Ready 's best-credentialed son in Australia.

Sebring, who won the 2008 Golden Slipper Stakes for trainer Gai Waterhouse and syndicator Star Thoroughbreds, suffered a heart attack. He was 13.

The sire of 51 stakes winners, including five group 1 scorers such as Dissident, Criterion, and Schweppes Thousand Guineas (G1) hero Amphitrite, Sebring was retired to Widden Stud in 2009.

"Sebring was the horse of a lifetime. As a racehorse and a stallion, he changed lives," Widden Stud principal Antony Thompson said.

"It's been a great privilege to stand him at Widden, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone that has supported him throughout his career and given him the opportunity to succeed in the way that he has.

"It's because of you, the breeders, that we can make these young colts into champion sires, and we thank everyone wholeheartedly for showing the same faith in him that we had."

Sebring, who was bred by George Altomonte's Corumbene Stud, is seventh on the Australian general sires' table by earnings, with 95 winners having gained AU$5,995,980 in prize money. In 2015, in his highest finish on the general sires' table, he was third behind Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel.

He finished third to barnmate Northern Meteor in the first-season sire table by earnings in the 2012-13 season, producing 16 individual winners headed by Todman Stakes victor Criterion.

He raced just six times for five wins, a record that includes a score in the Inglis Sires Produce Stakes (G1). His only defeat came in the Visa Entertainment Champagne Stakes (G1) when runner-up to star filly Samantha Miss, whom he defeated when landing the Sires Produce Stakes.

He was only seen publicly once as a 3-year-old when second in a Randwick barrier trial in January 2009.

"He was fun, energetic, and playful, which is how we will remember him," Thompson said.

"His influence will no doubt be felt for many years into the future, and we look forward to seeing the legacy he leaves through his sons and daughters in generations to come."

The death of Sebring, whose progeny earned more than AU$67 million, will perhaps be felt even more keenly by breeders, given his remarkable sire More Than Ready will not be returning to Vinery Stud this year after shuttling from the U.S. for 18 consecutive years.

Sebring, who covered 199 mares last year at a fee of AU$66,000, has produced sire sons Dissident, Criterion, Sebring Sun, Gold Standard, Hard Asset, and the Widden Stud-based Supido.

He has 12 yearlings cataloged at next month's Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale and 33 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in April. He also has one lot at each of the Magic Millions Adelaide and Gold Coast March Yearling Sales next month.