The G1 Deutsches Derby winner and dual-purpose sire Pastorius (Ger) has died at the age of 14 after failing to respond to treatment for a “multinodular pulmonary fibrosis syndrome”.
Bred by Franz Prinz von Auersperg and Florian Haffa, the son of Soldier Hollow (GB) landed three Group 1 victories in Germany and France for trainer Mario Hofer and owner Stall Antanando. He followed up his Derby win with success in the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis before returning at four to win the Prix Ganay.
Pastorius, who was out of the multiple-winning Monsun (Ger) mare Princess Li (Ger) and a full-brother to the Group 3 winner and German joint-champion juvenile colt Parthenius (Ger), stood his first four seasons in his native Germany at Gestut Fahrhof. In 2018, he moved to France to stand at Pascal Noue's Haras de la Hetraie, where he died on Saturday.
On Friday at Cheltenham, Pastorius's daughter Zenta (Fr) was third in the G1 Triumph Hurdle having won the G3 Norman Colfer Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle at Fairyhouse in February. His growing profile as a jump sire has also been boosted by the Grade 1 AQPS bumper winner July Flower (Fr).
On the Flat, Pastorius is also the sire of last season's G1 Beverly D S. winner Dalika (Ger) and the Group 3 winners Parol (Ger) and Riocorvo (Ger).
Confirming the stallion's death, Noue said that Pastorius had not been shown to breeders during the Route des Etalons in January while suffering from a then-unexplained illness.
“Very quickly following this, he was diagnosed a multinodular pulmonary fibrosis syndrome,” he said. “The outcome is generally very gloomy. Shock treatment was nevertheless put in place and the situation seemed to have stabilised to such an extent that we were even considering being able to provide a minimum covering service until the end of the breeding season. However, in the last 48 hours his condition worsened and the treatment was no longer reasonable.”
Noue added, “I would like to thank all those who have supported us over the past few weeks and all the veterinarians, specialists and friends whom I have asked to learn more about this disease and who have always been there with kindness.”
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