LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Estrapade, winner of a 1986 Eclipse Award as champion female turf horse, died from an apparent heart attack Friday at 25.
Estrapade is the only female to have won the Grade 1 Arlington Million, having done so in 1986 at age 6. She also won the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Invitational Handicap in 1985 and the Grade 1 Oak Tree Invitational Stakes the following year. Estrapade, the daughter of Vaguely Noble, out of Klepto, won 12 of 30 races and earned $1,937,142.
When she died at Hill 'n' Dale Farm, Estrapade was preparing to move to Midway to live on a retirement farm operated by Old Friends, said Michael Blowen, founder of the thoroughbred retirement organization.
Blowen said that Estrapade's owner, Michael Paulson, had agreed to allow Estrapade to be buried at Hurstland Farm in Midway, where Old Friends' operations are based.