Key Spirit, who was a multiple stakes winner during the early part of his career and a $3,000 claimer near the end, was euthanized Aug. 18 because of complications from laminitis. The 24-year-old gelding had resided at Moreland Farm near Berryville, Va.
Patrice Fleck and J.O. Wallace adopted Key Spirit from a ReRun rescue program in 1998 and cared for him until the end.
“He was as spoiled as could be,” Fleck said.
Key Spirit initially raced as a homebred for Ontario-based Kinghaven Farms until the summer of 1990, after which he was campaigned by numerous other owners. A winner every year he raced, from ages 2 through 11, he won 28 races and placed in 35 others from 115 starts. He earned $775,268.
Key Spirit came from the same crop as Kinghaven homebred With Approval, who developed into a Canadian Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year. Key Spirit (by Key to the Mint) was produced from the Personality mare Shy Spirit, whose half-sister, Passing Mood, produced With Approval.