Champion sprinter Gulch, sire of Thunder Gulch, dies at 32

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) Gulch, a sprint champion in the late 1980s and sire of 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch, has died at 32.

The horse died Sunday at Old Friends farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. Michael Blowen, president of Old Friends, says the cause was complications from cancer.

Gulch won the 1988 Breeders' Cup Sprint and earned the Eclipse Award for top sprinter. Gulch won 13 of 32 starts and earned more than $3 million. Among his wins were the Hopeful Stakes as a 2-year-old, the Wood Memorial as a 3-year-old and the Metropolitan Mile two years in a row.

He was trained by Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas and LeRoy Jolley.

A son of Mr. Prospector, his offspring earned more than $91 million. After his breeding days, Gulch was pensioned in 2009 because of declining health and was sent to Old Friends, a home for retired racehorses that draws visitors from around the country.