Estrapade (*Vaguely Noble), the champion turf mare of 1986, died of an
apparent heart attack at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday. She was 25.
Bred by Nelson Bunker Hunt, Estrapade started her career in France, winning
four of her nine starts, including the La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte (Fr-G3). She
headed to North America at the end of her four-year-old season in 1984,
finishing third in the Yellow Ribbon Invitational H. (G1) in her only U.S. start
that year. The chestnut went five-for-11 in 1985, posting wins in the Yellow
Ribbon, Santa Ana H. (G1), Gamely H. (G1) and Las Palmas H. (G2), but lost out
on year-end honors to Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) heroine Pebbles.
Sent to the Keeneland November Sale that fall, Estrapade was purchased by
Allen Paulson for $4.5 million. She came back the following season to beat the
boys, becoming the only distaffer to win the Arlington Million (G1) and also
besting males in the Oak Tree Invitational S. (G1). She closed out her career
with 12 wins from 30 starts and earnings of $1,937,142.
The Eclipse winner could not follow up on that success in the breeding shed,
producing just six foals, four of them unraced. Her lone stakes winner was Rice
(Blushing John),
who set a course record of 2:12 when taking the Meadowlands Endurance S. Her
last live foal was Holy Estrapade (Holy Bull), an unraced five-year-old.
Michael Paulson had
decided to pension the mare this season and she was scheduled to be moved to a
farm run by the Thoroughbred retirement organization Old Friends Friday. She
will be buried at the Old Friends facility based on Hurstland Farm near Midway,
Kentucky.