Hall Of Fame stallion Western Ideal passed away peacefully on the morning of Friday, April 11 at the age of 30.
Bred by Brittany Farms, world champion pacer Western Ideal (Western Hanover - Leah Almahurst) was foaled on May 23, 1995 in Versailles, Ky., and raced in 1997, 1999 and 2000. As a five-year-old in 2000, trained by Brett Pelling and driven by Mike Lachance, Western Ideal won the Breeders Crown, William R. Haughton Memorial, Canadian Pacing Derby and the Graduate Series. In his Breeders Crown victory, Western Ideal set a world record 1:48 for five-year-old and older Standardbreds on a mile track. He was voted 2000 Dan Patch Older Pacing Horse of the Year, and was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2018.
As a stallion, Western Ideal sired winners of more than $148 million, with 17 millionaires. They include 2005 U.S. Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame Immortal Rocknroll Hanover p,3,1:48.3 ($3,069,093); 2009 Adios winner and world champion Vintage Master p,4,1:48.1f ($2,162,979); 2010 Matron Stakes winner and world champion Krispy Apple p,1:48.4f ($1,908,539); 2005 Woodrow Wilson winner Western Ace p,4,1:48.4 ($1,924,290); New Jersey Sire Stakes star Dial Or Nodial p,1:48.3f ($1,803,017); 2014 Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year Artspeak p,3,1:47.4 ($1,770,980); 2010 Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year and world champion Big Jim p,2,1:49.1s ($1,544,580); and top Indiana stallion Always A Virgin p,3,1:48.4 ($1,135,559).
Western Ideal sired five sub-1:48 pacers — world champion American Ideal p,3,1:47.4 ($855,928), winner of the 2005 Confederation Cup and Tattersalls Pace; Artspeak; 2013 Breeders Crown winner Luck Be Withyou p,1:47.4f ($1,463,996), Western Joe p,4, 1:47.3 ($1,102,147) and JK First Lady p,4, 1:47.4 ($891,630).
As a broodmare sire, Western Ideal has sired the dams of winners of over $169 million to date, with 16 millionaires led by: 2018 Horse of the Year, world champion Mcwicked p,1:46.2 ($5,103,271); world champion This Is The Plan p,1:47.3h ($3,316,267); two-time Dan Patch winner Bettors Wish p,4, 1:47.3 ($2,781,240); multiple award winner Lyons Sentinel p, 4,1:48 ($2,325,124); Dan Patch winner Abuckabett Hanover p,1:47.2s ($2,447,194); O’Brien Horse of the Year and world champion State Treasurer p,1:47 ($2,072,450); O’Brien winner Jimmy Freight p,1:48s ($1,983,730) and divisional champion Pebble Beach p,3,1:48.1s ($1,971,975).
Western Ideal will be buried in the Hanover Shoe Farms cemetery alongside Cams Card Shark.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Western Ideal.
(with files from Hanover Shoe Farms)