4-time Grade 1 winner Improbable dies in Kentucky
The 2020 older-dirt male champion Improbable, a Grade 1 winner at 2 and 4 who stood at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., died Saturday night at Rood & Riddle Equine in Lexington, Ky., where he was being treated for the muscle disorder ataxia.
“He was sent to Rood & Riddle (on Saturday) morning to determine the exact cause of the ataxia,” WinStar president Elliott Walden said. “He was responding well to treatment but went to lie down in his stall and fell awkwardly. As a result he broke his right tibia, which could not be repaired.”
Improbable, who was 8, will have his first sire crop on the racetrack this year.
Improbable burst on the scene in 2018, winning his first three career races for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, including the first of four career Grade 1 victories in the Los Alamitos Futurity.
His 3-year-old season was lackluster by the standards he set in his other two years on the track, winning just the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar, although he did finish fourth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Preakness in 2019.
His 4-year-old season was by far his best as the City Zip colt reeled off consecutive Grade 1 wins in the Santa Anita Gold Cup, Whitney and Awesome Again before finishing second in his final race to stablemate and eventual horse of the year Authentic in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.
He was retired to WinStar after that champion older-male season, having won 7 of 15 career starts and earned $2,728,520 lifetime.
“These horses are our life, and we work every day to take care of them the best way we know how,” WinStar veterinarian Dr. Natanya Nieman said. “The whole team is reeling. Improbable gave us many great moments to share with our partners, our team and the whole racing community. It is tragic.”
Bred in Kentucky by St. George Farm and G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Improbable was acquired by Maverick Racing and China Horse Club for $200,000 out of the Taylor Made Sales agency consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September sale. Improbable was out of the A.P. Indy mare Rare Event. The 8-year-old stallion was bred to 329 mares in his first two books and is represented by his first crop of 2-year-olds this year.