WinStar Farm's pensioned sire Distorted Humor, a champion freshman sire, champion general sire, and champion broodmare sire who continues to influence the breed, was euthanized Jan. 10 due to the infirmities of old age. He was 33.
Distorted Humor helped WinStar scale new heights as a breeding operation and the esteemed stallion was represented by a plethora of top horses in an exceptional career at stud. All told from 23 crops, Distorted Humor sired 174 black-type winners, 76 graded stakes winners, and his runners have amassed earnings of more than $175 million worldwide.
"It's a deeply sad day for all of us at WinStar Farm to lose a generational sire like Distorted Humor," said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar. "We take solace in the legacy he leaves behind. His sons and daughters have won on the biggest stages, and his daughters are proving to be exceptional producers. His impact on the breed is undeniable and will be felt for generations to come."
Numbered among Distorted Humor's top runners are grade 1 winners Drosselmeyer, Funny Cide, Commentator, Any Given Saturday, Flower Alley, Hystericalady, Boisterous, Awesome Humor, and so many others. Distorted Humor was also an influential broodmare sire. As a broodmare sire, he is responsible for such outstanding horses as North America's all-time leading earner Arrogate ($17,422,600), international star Golden Sixty, 2025 Florida Derby (G1) winner Tappan Street, Elate, Practical Joke , New Money Honey, as well as WinStar stallions Constitution , Life Is Good , and Patch Adams , and was the leading broodmare sire of 2017.
A perennial leading sire, Distorted Humor entered stud in 1999 and provided many seminal moments during his remarkable and lengthy career as a stallion. He topped all freshman sires in 2002, and he was North America's leading general sire in 2011, the same year his son and leading earner Drosselmeyer ($3,728,170) captured the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) for WinStar. Drosselmeyer was also a classic winner, having won the 2010 Belmont Stakes (G1). In 2003, Distorted Humor's Funny Cide, bred by WinStar and campaigned by Sackatoga Stable, won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and the Preakness Stakes (G1) on his way to a career bankroll of $3,529,412.
Distorted Humor is the sire of four champions—Funny Cide, 2003 Eclipse champion 3-year-old male; Pathfork, 2010 champion 2-year-old colt in Ireland; Regal Ransom, 2009 champion 3-year-old colt in the United Arab Emirates; and Ontario-bred Hillaby, 2014 champion female sprinter in Canada.
A 1993 son of champion Forty Niner out of Danzig's Beauty, by Danzig, Distorted Humor was also an accomplished racehorse. Bred in Kentucky by Charles Nuckols Jr. and Sons and owned by R. L. Reineman and Prestonwood Farms and trained by Walden, Distorted Humor won the 1998 Commonwealth Breeders' Cup Stakes (G2) at Keeneland. He set a track record in the race, getting 7 furlongs in 1:20.50, a mark that stood until 2020. He also captured the 1998 Churchill Downs Handicap (G2), 1998 Ack Ack Handicap (G3), and 1997 Salvator Mile Handicap (G3), amassing earnings of $769,964.
