Eclipse Award champion sprinter Speightstown, who went on to a prolific stallion career at WinStar Farm, was euthanized on Friday due to foot issues from old age, the farm reported. The son of Gone West was 25. “We’ve been through a lot together in the last 19 years,” WinStar stallion manager Larry McGinnis said in the release. “We’ll miss our friend.” Speightstown, bred by Aaron and Marie Jones, was a $2 million Keeneland July yearling purchase by Eugene Melnyk, with WinStar and Taylor Made buying shares later in the horse’s career. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Speightstown won 10 of 16 starts, only missed the board twice, and earned more than $1.2 million. Graded stakes-placed at 3, Speightstown returned from a long layoff to blossom as an older horse, and put together his best season at age 6 in 2004. After winning the Artax Handicap at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap, Grade 2 True North at Belmont Park and Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga, he finished third in the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont. He then earned his signature victory in the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Lone Sta Park, which secured his divisional Eclipse title. Speightstown retired to WinStar, as a venture with Taylor Made, for the 2005 season, and has been a prominent and versatile sire, with his offspring performing well on dirt, turf, and synthetic, and at both one and two turns. Through Dec. 7, he is the sire of 915 winners – including 149 stakes winners – for progeny earnings of more than $155 million. His six champions worldwide include three in Canada – millionaire Essence Hit Man, Grade 1 winner Lady Speightspeare, and Bold Script. Speightstown is also the sire of Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing, and Grade/Group 1 winners including Charlatan, Competitionofideas, Dance to Bristol, Echo Town, Flagstaff, Force the Pass, Golden Ticket, Haynesfield, Jersey Town, Lexitonian, Lighthouse Bay, Mona de Momma, Mozu Superflare, Olympiad, Poseidon’s Warrior, Prince of Monaco, Reynaldothewizard, Rock Fall, Seek Again, Shirl’s Speight, and Switzerland. “Speightstown was a foundational sire for WinStar and helped stamp our legacy as a sire-making farm,” WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden said. “I want to thank Larry McGinnis and his team for all the love and care they gave ‘Speighty,’ as he was lovingly called. They helped him through three colic surgeries, and he had none in the last 13 years. “His progeny ran on dirt, turf, six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, and they always showed their grit. Like with any family member, he will be truly missed.” Prince of Monaco is among 95 current 2-year-olds, according to Equineline statistics, for Speightstown, whose legacy will continue to grow. The stallion has 66 current yearlings, according to Equineline. Speightstown covered 89 mares in 2022 and 81 mares this year in his final season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Speightstown is the sire of more than two dozen sons at stud worldwide, notably Munnings, a perennial leading sire in his own right, and Central Banker, a leading sire in New York. Young sons in the pipeline include Echo Town, with his first yearlings; Charlatan and Lexitonian, with their first foals this year; and Olympiad and stakes winner Nashville, expecting first foals in 2024. The latter stands at WinStar. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.