Turf champion Sunshine Forever dead at 29

Sunshine Forever, who was honored as the champion turf male of 1988 as a

three-year-old, died of an apparent heart attack Tuesday at the Old Friends

Equine Retirement Facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. The news was initially

reported in Daily Racing Form.

A 29-year-old son of Roberto, Sunshine Forever had been a resident at Old

Friends for nearly 10 years following a stud career at his birthplace, Darby Dan

Farm in Lexington, and at Nitta Farm in Japan.

Rising to prominence the same year that marked the death of Darby Dan founder

John Galbraith, Sunshine Forever captured two of his first three stakes attempts

against fellow three-year-olds -- the Lexington and Hill Prince at Belmont Park

-- and concluded his ambitious campaign with six consecutive Grade 1 outings

against older horses.

After a second to the mare Anka Germania in the Sword Dancer Handicap at

Belmont and a third in the relocated Arlington Million at Woodbine, Sunshine

Forever rattled off three straight wins in the Man o' War and Turf Classic at

Belmont and the Washington D.C. International at Laurel. His campaigned

concluded with a half-length second to Great Communicator in the Breeders' Cup

Turf at Churchill Downs.

Despite the Breeders' Cup loss, Sunshine Forever was honored with an Eclipse

Award as the nation's champion male grass horse of 1988. He was the last

American-based three-year-old to win the award until Kitten's Joy won in 2004.

Sunshine Forever failed to win in six outings in 1989 while placing in the

Canadian Turf Handicap at Gulfstream and Fort Marcy Handicap at Aqueduct. He was

retired to Darby Dan with a mark of 23-8-6-1, $2,084,800.

Trained by Hall of Famer John Veitch, Sunshine Forever's leading U.S. and

European-based offspring included Italian highweight Blu Tagasaste, Grade 1

winner Sunshine Street, Grade 3 winner Gastronomical, and the noted

Louisiana-bred mare Sarah Lane's Oates.

Sunshine Forever was produced by the stakes-placed Graustark mare Outward

Sunshine.