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Boundary, sire of Big Brown, dies at 22

Big Brown will have his first crop hit the track this year (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) Multiple Grade 3 hero Boundary, sire of once-beaten champion Big Brown, was euthanized at Claiborne Farm on Saturday due to the infirmities of old age. The son of renowned Claiborne stallion Danzig was 22 years old. Pensioned from stud duty in the summer of 2005 because of declining fertility, Boundary had been in good condition until the weekend, according to farm spokesman Bernie Sams. Boundary was bred and raced by the partnership of Claiborne Farm and William H. Perry's Gamely Corporation. The Bill Mott trainee began his career with a five-race winning streak, all at six furlongs. After breaking his maiden and sailing through an entry-level allowance in the spring of 1993, Boundary was sidelined for the remainder of his three-year-old campaign. The bay reappeared in 1994 and methodically cleared his remaining conditions. Boundary tackled stakes rivals for the first time in the Grade 3 Roseben Handicap at Aqueduct, where he rallied to a 2 3/4-length score. He lost his perfect mark in the Grade 2 Tom Fool Stakes, finishing third in his only try at seven furlongs. Back in trip to six furlongs, Boundary missed by a nose in the Grade 2 True North Handicap. In his final career start, Boundary drove to a determined victory over Cherokee Run, that season's Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and divisional champion, in the Grade 3 A Phenomenon Handicap. The bay retired to stud at Claiborne with a sterling 8-6-1-1 mark and $217,777 in earnings.

Boundary is best remembered for siring Big Brown, the champion three-year-old colt of 2008. A dominating winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the undefeated colt loomed as the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. Quarter-cracks were his nemesis, however, and plagued him in the build-up to the Belmont Stakes. Pulled up in the third jewel of the Triple Crown, Big Brown regrouped with another major success in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. He added the grassy Monmouth Stakes to his resume, defeating older horses, but was injured again when working for the Breeders' Cup Classic and retired. Big Brown's first crop of foals just turned two this year.

But Boundary has more to his legacy. He is also responsible for Minardi, the champion two-year-old colt in England and Ireland through scores in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and Group 1 Phoenix Stakes in 2000; multiple Grade 1 winner Pomeroy, who captured the Grade 1 King's Bishop in a stakes-record 1:20 4/5 in 2004; and multiple Grade 2 victor Conserve.

Pomeroy is off to a good start at stud, getting multiple Grade 2 heroine Pomeroys Pistol and Grade 2 romper Flashpoint in his first crop.

Boundary's daughters have produced Bel Air Beauty, who garnered the Alcibiades when it was a Grade 2 event; Grade 2-winning millionaire Seaside Retreat, a course record-setter at Woodbine; multiple Grade 3 veteran Demarcation; Irish Group 3 winner and classic-placed Jupiter Pluvius; Irish Group 3 scorer Long Lashes; and Grade 3 victor Lethal Combination.

Boundary's female line is brimming with Hall of Famers who stood at Claiborne. His dam, Grade 3 queen Edge, was by Damascus; his second dam, Grade 2 heroine Ponte Vecchio, was by Round Table; and his third dam, Ashland winner Terentia, was by Bold Ruler. Family members include multiple Grade 1 victress Classy Cathy, the dam of Group 2 winner Placerville, later noted as a classic sire in India.

Boundary's fourth dam was Romanita, the champion two-year-old filly of 1956. She was by Roman, out of Mablen, by Claiborne stallion *Blenheim II. Boundary's sixth dam, Golden Manda, a daughter of Man o' War, traced to the outstanding mare *Fairy Gold. Golden Manda is thus inbred to Man o' War's sire Fair Play and Fair Play's full sister, Golden View.

Boundary was laid to rest at Claiborne.

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