Loch Pearl, sire of last season’s HOYS champion hunter, Principal Partner (pictured right), has died at the age of 27. He was found dead in his box early on 30 July, apparently from a massive heart attack.
“He was dead before he hit the ground,” said Martin Ward of Rectory Farm Stallions, Sutton, where Loch Pearl stood.
Mr Ward said the prolific sire, by Lochnager out of Dusky Pearl, would be a tough act to follow. Winner of the King George V Trophy at the 1992 HIS (now Sport Horse Breeding (GB)) National Hunter Show, he sired show and dressage horses, advanced eventers and show jumpers.
The last three mares he covered — on the Friday before he died — have all been scanned in-foal.
