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BC Mile hero Royal Academy dies in Australia

Royal Academy poses with Tom Magnier and his son, Charlie (Courtesy of Coolmore Australia) Royal Academy, who gave the legendary duo of trainer Vincent O'Brien and jockey Lester Piggott their only Breeders' Cup wins with a thrilling photo-finish decision in the 1990 Mile at Belmont Park, has died. The 25-year-old son of Nijinsky II, who was also linked with O'Brien and Piggott, succumbed to the infirmities of old age at Coolmore Australia on Wednesday. "It's very sad," Tom Magnier said. "Royal Academy has been a tremendous servant to Coolmore, wherever he's been based. He spent the last five years of his life here, the last two years in retirement. Particular credit must go to our head stallion man Gerry Ryan, who looked after him with great care and attention. He has been wonderfully prolific, siring more than 160 stakes winners and his progeny earnings are the equivalent of more than $120 million. "He sired major winners over a wide range of distances, at all ages. I suspect, though, that his greatest legacy is the speed he passed on to the best of his Australian descendants -- the brilliant Black Caviar is by one of his sons while champion sire-elect Fastnet Rock is out of one of his daughters."

Royal Academy first hit the headlines when Vincent O'Brien bid a sales-topping $3.5 million for him at the 1988 Keeneland July Selected Yearling Sales. In addition to being a very handsome individual, he had the attraction of being out of Storm Cat's granddam Crimson Saint.

Royal Academy proved a very sound investment for Classic Thoroughbreds Plc. Although Nijinsky's progeny were usually noted for their stamina, O'Brien, who died in 2009, took the bold decision to run him in the six-furlong Group 1 July Cup. As so often, O'Brien's judgment proved spot on and he gained his first top-level success. Royal Academy then finished a good second to the exceptional sprinter Dayjur in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock before ending his career in a blaze of glory when carrying a back-from-retirement Lester Piggott to a stirring neck victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile.

Earlier in his three-year-old season, Royal Academy was successful in the Group 3 Tetrarch and a close second in the Group 1 Irish Two Thousand Guineas. He retired with a mark of 7-4-2-0, $791,003.

Royal Academy began his stallion career at Coolmore at a fee of 30,000 Irish guineas in 1991. His four first-crop group winners were headed by Oscar Schindler and there was at least one Group1 winner in each of his first five Irish crops, thanks to the efforts of Ali-Royal, Carmine Lake, Sleepytime, Zalaiyka, Val Royal, and Lavery.

Royal Academy also stood at Coolmore's American branch, Ashford Stud, resulting in among others, Bullish Luck, a star in Hong Kong who also won the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan. His Group 1 winners in Australia included Black Caviar's sire Bel Esprit, Serious Speed and Kenwood Melody. 

As a broodmare sire, Royal Academy has been represented by multiple classic winner Finsceal Beo and last year's leading French juvenile Dabirsim.

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