Darling My Darling, Granddam of Sierra Leone and Forever Young, Passes Away

[Wandering Eyes]

Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister) was humanely euthanized at Fawn Leap Farm outside Midway, Kentucky Monday, according to Debby Oxley, who phoned the TDN with the news.

In a remarkable achievement in last year's Kentucky Derby, Darling My Darling was the granddam of both the second- and third-place finishers, Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). The pair ran first and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic last fall.

“She's 28 years old and she is brought in every night and on Monday morning, they couldn't get her up,” said Oxley. “They tried for several hours and finally just had to send her on. She has lived here at Fawn Leap ever since she came off the racetrack.”

Darling My Darling was purchased as a yearling at the 1998 Keeneland September sale for $300,000. She broke her maiden in her first start and went on to be two-time GI stakes placed at two. She produced GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes winner Heavenly Love (Malibu Moon) as wel as GII Santa Ynez winner Forever Darling (Congrats), the dams of Sierra Leone and Forever Young, respectively. Sierra Leone topped the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale at $2.3 million.

“She just brought us so much joy and that continued on as a broodmare,” said Oxley. “We still have a lot of her offspring here at the farm. Heavenly Love has been a gift and Darling has just continued to give us things all these years. We're sorry to see her go, but this was a hard winter and that may have had something to do with it.”

Her ashes will be spread at the farm.

“I know it was expected, but at the same time, you never expect it,” Oxley said. “She was a very very special mare and it closes a chapter for her and for us. It's been a tough little go here. She was the queen of the farm.”

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