LEXINGTON, Ky. — Grindstone, the oldest living winner of the Kentucky Derby, has passed away at age 29.
The 1996 Derby champion had been living at Oakhurst Equine Veterinary Services in Newberg, Ore. The farm announced the news of his passing in a social media post Wednesday.
“R.I.P. Champ. Thank you for providing us with a thrill of a lifetime — you changed our lives when you joined us and will always be missed,” the post read.
Grindstone rallied from near the back of a 19-horse field to defeat Cavonnier by a nose in a thrilling finish to the 1996 Kentucky Derby, which was ultimately the final race of his career.
He was retired from competition five days later when a bone chip was discovered in his right knee, the first Derby winner in 70 years to be retired immediately after winning the race.
“It’s an agony and an ecstasy type of business,” said owner W.T. Young at the time. Young also bred Grindstone, his first and only Kentucky Derby winner, at Overbrook Farm, which had 11 entrants in the race from 1989 to 1999.
Grindstone had undergone surgery to remove a chip from the same knee the previous August, and an additional procedure could have been attempted to return him to racing following the Derby, but Young and his advisers decided against it.
“I think this is what one should do,” said Young, who died in 2004 and was 78 years old at the time of his only Derby victory. “If we operated on him and then something happened later on, you’d never forgive yourself.”
Grindstone was born Jan. 23, 1993, the son of 1990 Kentucky Derby champ Unbridled. They were the 12th father/son duo to win the Derby and remain the most recent occurrence of that feat 26 years later.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the third of his four Kentucky Derbys with Grindstone, who retired with only six career races on his record. Before that first Saturday in May in his 3-year-old season, he had also won the Louisiana Derby, with a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby accounting for his final start before the trip to Churchill Downs.
Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey was aboard Grindstone for the Kentucky Derby win.
Grindstone began his stud career at Overbrook Farm before moving to Oregon in 2009, becoming, according to Oakhurst Farm, the first Kentucky Derby winner to ever stand at stud in the Northwest. His most notable progeny was Birdstone, who upset Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont Stakes, denying that fan favorite a Triple Crown.
Birdstone was later the sire of Mine That Bird, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2009.
The Daily Racing Form profiled Grindstone in 2013 — when he turned 20 years old — and Oakhurst Farm owner and veterinarian Jack Root described a horse that still carried himself as a racing champion.
“He’s really kind of a character,” Root said. “He’s really smart, and he knows it. He expects you to act like he’s special. He likes to be in command of the world. I think the very good horses, overall, are probably like that.”
Grindstone was later joined by fellow Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo at the Oregon farm.
Go for Gin, the Derby champ in 1994, had been the oldest living winner of the race until his death two weeks ago. Grindstone passed away 15 days later.
Silver Charm is now the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner at age 28. He was trainer Bob Baffert’s first winner in the race, in 1997, and currently resides at Old Friends farm in Georgetown.
