Sea Hero, the 1993 Kentucky Derby winner, has died at age 29 according to the Turkish Jockey Club. An earner of more than $2.9 million, the Virginia-bred had been the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner.
Sea Hero also recorded a pair of important victories in the Champagne (G1) and Travers (G1), and he retired after the 1994 season with a lifetime record of 24-6-3-4. The bay horse hailed from the multiple Grade 2-winning Graustark mare Glowing Tribute, the 1993 Broodmare of the Year.
By Polish Navy, Sea Hero provided well-respected veterans, owner/breeder Paul Mellon and trainer Mack Miller, with their first Kentucky Derby winner.
Mellon, who raced under the Rokeby Stables banner, had finished a close second in the 1969 Kentucky Derby with Arts and Letter and became the first owner to win the Epsom Derby, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Kentucky Derby at age 85. Miller was a 71-year-old Hall of Fame trainer in 1993.
Hall of Fame rider and two-time Kentucky Derby winner Jerry Bailey served as the regular rider.
Sea Hero entered stud at Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Kentucky and sired four crops before being purchased by the Turkish Jockey for the 2000 breeding season. He stood at Karacabey Pension Stud in Turkey and was pensioned in 2016.
Go for Gin, who resides at the Kentucky Horse Park, is now the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner at age 28.
