SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Art Collector, a two-time Grade 1 winner and earner of more than $4.2 million, was euthanized Thursday after developing laminitis in all four feet, trainer Bill Mott said. He was 6 years old. The news was first reported by Horse Racing Nation. Mott said Art Collector first showed signs of an issue a couple of days after he worked five furlongs over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track on Aug. 5. What first appeared to be a foot abscess quickly developed into laminitis. “Everything pretty much happened in a hurry, within the last three or four days,” Mott said. “It started to look as he was developing laminitis. He went from being okay three or four days ago to really getting bad in a hurry.” Art Collector, who did have foot issues throughout his career, was training for a start in the $1 million Charles Town Classic on Aug. 25, a race he had won each of the last two years. Art Collector, a son of Bernardini owned and bred by Bruce Lunsford, won 11 of 23 starts and earned $4,231,290. His biggest victory came earlier this year when he upset the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park. Art Collector also won the Grade 1 Woodward in 2021. Overall, Art Collector won eight stakes, including the Grade 2 Blue Grass and Ellis Park Derby at 3 when he was trained by Thomas Drury. Transferred to Mott in the summer of 2021, Art Collector won the Alydar, Charles Town Classic, and Woodward in succession before finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. In 2022, following a 12th-place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup, Art Collector won the Alydar and Charles Town Classic again before finishing fifth in the Lukas Classic. A foot issued kept him out of the Grade 1 Cigar Mile and led to his returning to the races in 2023. Following his Pegasus victory in January, Art Collector finished second in both the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic and Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes. “He was a real competitor, here’s a horse that won 50 percent of his starts and he did a lot of it racing against the best company,” Mott said. “He won the biggest race of the season for older horses when he won the Pegasus. What a huge effort he turned in that day and came back after that and put in two good efforts.” Lunsford said Art Collector was being treated by the best veterinarians but it became obvious on Thursday that he wasn’t going to make it. “Once [laminitis] gets there, it’s pretty dire,” Lunsford said. “You could tell he was struggling. He was such a good horse. Man, I loved that horse. He brought the highest high to me winning the Pegasus.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.