Prominent Thoroughbred sire El Prado died of a heart problem in his paddock at Adena Springs near Paris, Ky. the morning of Sept. 21. The son of Sadler’s Wells was 20 years old.

“It’s a very sad moment for us at the farm–we’re still in shell shock about the whole thing,” said Adena’s Dermot Carty. “On the other hand, what a great privilege for the Stronach family to have had a horse like this.”

Carty said he bought El Prado privately for Frank Stronach in the early 1990s from Coolmore Stud. Brereton Jones initially stood the stallion on Stronach’s behalf at his Airdrie Stud. When Stronach launched his Adena Spring’s stallion operation, El Prado was one of the first sires to stand there.

“No one wanted a son of Sadler’s Wells in America,” said Carty. “Everyone saw him as just a grass horse, but now he’s a broodmare sire, a sire of sires, and he’s made history. It was a gamble…to buy a son of Sadler’s Wells was a major move, but it paid off