Legendary Thoroughbred stallion Storm Cat euthanized at age 30

Storm Cat was euthanized Wednesday, April 24, due to complications from old age (possibly cancer) at Overbrook Farm in Lexington, Ky.

The Pennsylvania-bred stallion had produced at least 160 stakes winners who combined to top $127 million. Among his offspring were 91 yearlings that sold for more than $1 million. When Storm Cat retired from racing in 1987, his stud fee was $30,000, Overbrook Farm said in a news release. During his 20-year stud career, his fee at one point rose to $500,000, the farm said.

The Daily Racing Form reported: “Coincidentally, after (Veternarian) Copelan gave the injection, we heard a lot of thunder,” Overbrook’s former stallion manager Eduardo Terrazas said with a sigh. “It was a storm moving in. It started raining about 10 minutes after he passed. Copelan made the comment that the heavens were not happy because of this storm, and I said, ‘Maybe they are welcoming him up there.’”