Champion stallion dies after breaking leg

At the height of his powers and with a full book of mares to cover this spring, Hinchinbrook has died tragically today as the result of a broken hind leg.

Foaled and raised at Yarraman Park, Hinchinbrook was turning 11 this year and was at the peak of his career with seasonal earnings of $6.2 million and 100 winners highlighted by five stakes-winners headed by Group I winning filly Seabrook.

“We are devastated as you can imagine,” said Harry Mitchell.

“He’s been a special horse for us and we believed in him from the start. He wasn’t an easy horse to get going as he was not the most fertile, but he kept proving himself and getting that good horse.

“It just breaks your heart, but it’s something that happens. It happened to Northern Meteor and it happened to Scat Daddy, as sad as it is, you have to regroup and move on.”

A three-quarter brother to champion sire Snitzel, Hinchinbrook was a top class two year-old that trained on at three to numerous Group I placings and retired at a fee of $16,500.

By champion sire Fastnet Rock, he was the Champion First Season Sire of 2014/2015 defeating Beneteau and Star Witness and his first crop included outstanding colt Press Statement, a dual Group I winner of over $1million in prizemoney.

Hinchinbrook enjoyed a steady rise to sustained commercial success and was fully booked for this spring at a fee of $55,000 after covering books of 148 and 129 mares in his past two seasons at fees of $38,500 and $44,000.