Marquetry Dies After Accident at Old Friends

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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Marquetry with Michael Blowen at Old Friends

Three-time grade I winner Marquetry, whose 1991 upset of Farma Way at 27-1 odds ranks as the largest in Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I) history, died Feb. 1 at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, Ky.
 
The 26-year-old retired stallion was humanely euthanized after suffering a serious injury in a stall accident.  Veterinarians from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute attended to the injured horse, and a full necropsy report is expected in a few days, according to a release from the farm.
 
Marquetry, by 1982 Horse of the Year Conquistador Cielo out of the Vice Regent mare Regent's Walk, won 10 of 36 career starts and earned $2,857,886. He was a grade I winner on both dirt and turf, registering victories in the 1992 Eddie Read Handicap and 1993 Meadowlands Cup Handicap, in addition to the Gold Cup.
 
He is the sire of Breeders' Cup winners and Eclipse sprint champions Artax (1999) and Squirtle Squirt (2001).
 
The flashy chestnut retired at age 6 to Ben P. Walden Jr.'s Vinery near Midway, Ky., and subsequently stood at Stonewall Farms Ocala, Florida division, where he was pensioned in 2010 due to declining fertility.
 
"We have, and will, retire many great horses," said Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends. "But none will ever take his place."

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