USA Horse of the Year succumbs to laminitis

1991 USA Horse of the Year Black Tie Affair has been put down at Old Friends equine retirement home in Kentucky.  He was 24 and succumbed to laminitis.

Black Tie Affair won six consecutive Group events in 1991 including the G1 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park.  He earned championship honours when partnered by Jerry Bailey to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs where victims included the previous year’s winner Unbridled and Kentucky Derby hero Strike The Gold.

The son of Miswaki stood at Vinery Farm in Kentucky and in Japan before being repatriated to Old Friends.  The best of his 35 stakes winners were the G1 winners Formal Gold and Evening Attire.

“He was just life-changing for us,” said Dee Poulos, wife of the late Ernie Poulos who trained the horse for owner Jeff Sullivan.  “It was such a wonderful experience with him.  He was one of a kind.”