Just months after retiring from stud duties, a cardiac condition has claimed the life of Derrinstown Stud stallion Intikhab (Red Ransom–Crafty Example, by Crafty Prospector) at the age of 22. Bred by JI Racing Inc and Marvin Little Jr, Intikhab was trained initially by David Morley for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, winning twice as a juvenile before adding a pair of listed successes to his tally at three.
Switched to Godolphin and Saeed Bin Suroor as a 4-year-old, he notched his first group victory by an impressive five lengths in the G3 Diomed S. at Epsom on Derby day before going on to post an even more flamboyant win at Royal Ascot, where he stormed the G2 Queen Anne S. by eight lengths under Frankie Dettori. That performance saw him named the champion miler of 1998 with a Timeform rating of 135.
Intikhab retired to Sheikh Hamdan's Derrinstown Stud in Ireland at a career high price of Ir£12,000 and set about amassing an array of stakes winners, enjoying the most notable success with fillies, which include his three Group 1 winners, the dual Oaks winner Snow Fairy (Ire), Lockinge and Matron S. heroine Red Evie (Ire) and high-class juvenile Paita (GB).
Through Red Evie in particular he has made his name as the broodmare sire of 'TDN Rising Star' Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), and her listed-winning sister Best In The World (Ire), while another daughter, Boa Estrela (Ire), is responsible for the multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Gordon Lord Byron (Ire) (Byron {GB}).
Intikhab's most recent stakes winner was Circus Couture (Ire) in the G3 Premio Amrosiano in Italy on Apr. 17.
A statement from Derrinstown Stud read, “Intikhab's solid sales record, consistently high ratio of winners to runners and perennially attractive stud fee made him a darling of many Irish breeders, who supported him strongly throughout his long and successful stud career.”
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