Multiple Group 1 Winner Hawk Wing Dies of Colic at 26

The superb miler Hawk Wing has died at age 26 due to colic, according to reports in Japan. The Kentucky-bred son of Woodman was a top-class miler at a golden time for Ballydoyle after the turn of the millennium. He won the 2001 National Stakes (G1) as a juvenile and finished runner-up behind two of his illustrious stablemates, Rock Of Gibraltar and High Chaparral, in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and Epsom Derby (G1). He added a second group 1 success to his record when a comprehensive winner of the Eclipse Stakes (G1) before filling the second place position again in the Irish and British versions of the Champion Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown and Ascot. As a 4-year-old the popular runner enjoyed his finest moment when an utterly dominant winner of the 2003 Lockinge Stakes (G1), making all and pulling 11 lengths clear of Where Or When at Newbury for a sensational success. "He just has an unbelievable amount of natural ability," trainer Aidan O'Brien said after that win. "To watch him, he always quickens your heart. He's a very dangerous type of horse because he can make you say stuff as everybody saw last year, and as I've learned recently, you have to be very careful. "If I blow up a horse too much because I believe it, the horse can pay the penalty. This is the sort of horse that can do that but he has the ability to go with it." He finished lame in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) in his next start, with his sixth-placed finish just the second time in his career he finished outside of the top two, and was subsequently retired. He won five of his 12 starts and earned over £1 million in prize-money. Hawk Wing stood at Coolmore from 2004-2008 and ended his stallion career in Korea. Although generally considered disappointing as a stallion, he produced the top handicapper Hawkeyethenoo and group 3 winners The Bogberry and Shamwari Lodge. He was bred in Kentucky by Hill 'N' Dale Farm, and sold as a weanling at Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale in 1999 for $225,000 to Curragh Bloodstock Agency. Hawk Wing passed through the sales ring once more—as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Sale, where he sold for $300,000 to Par Four Racing Stable.