Nina Fout’s 2000 Olympic partner, 3 Magic Beans, was euthanatized on March 15 due to a degenerative spinal cord disease. He was 17.

“Beans” came to Fout “with a zero-dollar earnings record” from the racing string of her father, the late Paul Fout. If the 1990 son of Hidden Capitol-Express Card (the last homebred of Tennessee breeder Margaret Henley) lacked the blistering speed required for the racetrack, Nina Fout recognized from the start that the bay gelding was something special.

The 17-hand Thoroughbred (Hidden Capitol-Express Card) completed 10 four-star events, including the Rolex Kentucky CCI four times, the Badminton CCI (England) twice and three trips around the Burghley CCI**** (England), as well as the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where they earned a team bronze medal. Fout retired him after the 2006 Rolex Kentucky CCI.

Jim Wofford, a long-time fan of the gelding, said in the Chronicle of the Horse‘s 2006 Rolex Kentucky Preview issue: “Beanie is another one of my personal favorites. He has a luminous eye and the look of eagles. He is the archetype of a classic-format horse