Danzero, a Golden Slipper winner who went on to find further fame as a stallion, has died at the age of 28.
The 1994 Slipper hero died peacefully in his paddock at Rosemont Stud in Victoria where he had been domiciled for almost a decade.
A son of the all-conquering sire Danehill, Danzero was the second of four successive Golden Slipper winners trained by the Freedman brothers during the 1990s.
He was also the first Group One winner for Danehill, a sire lauded for reshaping the modern-day Australian thoroughbred industry.
After winning four of his nine starts and more than $1.3 million in prize money, Danzero was retired to stand at Arrowfield Stud for the 1995 breeding season.
Danzero achieved the rare of feat of winning a Golden Slipper and siring the winner of the world’s richest two-year-old race when Dance Hero won in 2004.
Dance Hero was among six Group One winners for Danzero on an honour roll that also includes Niconero, Fairway, Danglissa, Danni Martine and Jymcarew.
Danzero sired 669 individual winners from 1042 runners with 40 of his progeny successful at stakes level.
After his purchase from Arrowfield in 2011 to stand at Rosemont, Danzero was retired from stallion duties after three seasons.
“He was the first stallion to stand at Rosemont and was in fact the only stallion to stand at our original farm at Ceres.” Rosemont principal Anthony Mithen said.
“He helped set in motion the stallion business for us and ultimately the purchase of Rosemont Gnarwarre from Tony Santic which is now home to our five-strong stallion roster.”
