Report: $16 million horse The Green Monkey euthanized

Twelve years after sold at auction for $16 million -- still a world record for a Thoroughbred -- The Green Monkey was euthanized in the spring following a diagnosis of laminitis, The Paulick Report's Joe Nevills reported Sunday evening. The Green Monkey was 14.

The subject to a massive bidding war between Coolmore and Darley at the 2006 Fasig-Tipton Calder Select 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, the son of Forestry never won in three career starts. He stood at Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds in Ocala, Fla., and also lived out his days there.

Hartley/De Renzo is the same outfit that purchased The Green Monkey for $425,000 as a yearling, then made a major profit selling him at 2.

Named for a Barbados golf course, The Green Monkey was trained by Todd Pletcher and debuted on Sept. 15, 2007, the fall of his 3-year-old season, with injuries preventing him from racing earlier. His stud career was only marginally more successful. According to The Paulick Report, The Green Monkey didn't cover more than 12 mares in a single season after being bred to 40 in his first year.

“He was doing excellent, and then probably a year and a half ago, he foundered,” Randy Hartley, who co-owns Hartley/De Renzo, told The Paulick Report. “We just struggled with him ever since, trying to do everything we could to get him right. It just got to the point where it wasn't the right thing to do.”