Alexander Harthill, DVM, a renowned Central Kentucky racehorse veterinarian known as “Derby Doc” to his colleagues, died July 16. He was 80 years old.

Harthill died at Hospice and Palliative Care in Louisville, Ky., after complications from a stroke and pneumonia, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

He earned his nickname from treating as many as 27 Kentucky Derby winners, ranging from Triple Crown winner Citation in 1948 to Grindstone in 1996. “He also was the vet for the only Derby winner to be disqualified when 1968 first-place finisher Dancer’s Image registered positive for the anti-inflammatory medication phenylbutazone (Bute), which was then banned,” noted the Courier-Journal article. “Harthill denied any involvement. He was fined $500 in the case after testifying that he and another trainer later placed a white granular substance in Dancer’s Image’s feed in a curious effort to test the honesty of trainer Lou Cavalaris.”

Among the Derby winners Harthill treated were Lil E. Tee, Sunday Silence, and Spectacular Bid. He also is remembered as one of the practitioners who tried to save Thoroughbred champion filly Ruffian when she broke down in a match race in July 1975