Justify sibling The Lieutenant 'murdered' in Peruvian crime

The Lieutenant, a 6-year-old half-brother to Triple Crown winner Justify, was one of four stallions killed Sunday at the Peruvian farm Haras Barlovento by intruders who first shot the night watchman before going after the horses.

“With lot of pain, we share the sad news of the murder of the four stallions of Barlovento recently at our farm in Cañete,” an Instagram post from Boris Schwartzman's Haras Barlovento reads. “They reduced the watchman and went straight to kill Cyrus Alexander, The Lieutenant, Timely Advice and Kung Fu Mambo. They had one intention and they have succeeded.”

Per the Thoroughbred Daily News, first to report the incident, police are still looking for the suspects.

The Lieutenant, out of the Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic, was standing in Peru for the Southern Hemisphere's breeding season. Most of the year, he made his home at Sequel New York, where he stood for the first time in 2019.

“Our hearts are broken,” Sequel's Becky Thomas told The TDN. “Boris is a phenomenal person, and there’s nothing  you can say that is going to make him feel better. The only information that I know was that his night watchman was shot, and all four stallions were murdered. That’s the word he used; murdered.”

Michael McCarthy trained The Lieutenant, who was by Street Sense, during a career that saw him become a graded winner of Golden Gate Fields' All American (G3) in 2018 and compete in some of the nation's top races for older horses. His maturation coincided with younger brother Justify's run to become a 6-for-6 Triple Crown champion.

Others killed Sunday are familiar names to American racing fans, as the 7-year-old Cyrus Alexander won the 2016 Lone Star Park Handicap (G3), while Kung Fu Mambo is a Peruvian Group 1 winner who capped his career by winning an allowance race at Santa Anita Park in 2015.