Boundary, sire of Big Brown, dies at 22

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.