Champion South African sire Western Winter was put down at Lammerskraal Stud on Thursday.

The 21-year-old son of Gone West was recovering from colic surgery when he broke a front leg attempting to stand.  “He didn’t deserve to go like that but we stayed with him until the end,” the Cape based stud said in a statement.   “He knew just how much we all loved him.”

Western Winter (USA) was bred in Maryland and won the LR O’Farrell Stakes at Hialeah Park as well as being G1 placed behind Langfuhr in the Metropolitan Hcp and Carter Hcp.

He has sired 76 stakes winners, including 21 Group 1 winners, since retiring in 1997.  He was Champion South Africa sire for the seasons ending 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Among Western Winter’s best runners are South African champions Ice Cube, Yard-Arm, Winter Solstice, Bad Girl Runs, Fearless, Argonaut, Lady Windermere, Capetown Noir and What a Winter.