Beboppin Baby Euthanized

Multiple graded stakes winner Beboppin Baby (Hatchet Man–Liltin Jill, by Verbatim) was euthanized Aug. 26 at Flying Y Ranch in Carney, OK, due to infirmities of old age and prior injury. The 22-year-old lived at Flying Y for about a decade and, at the end of 2014, joined “Olivia’s Herd,” the segment of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation that tends to horses with special needs as a result of injury, illness or old age. Bred in Illinois, Beboppin Baby started as a claiming horse and worked his way up to win the GII Washington Park H. at Arlington and then went on to earn nearly $850,000 in his 64-race career. A right-front suspensory injury ended his racing career in 2004, and he joined the TRF herd at the Blackburn Correctional Facility in Lexington, KY. After he was rehabilitated, he was sent to TRF’s herd at Flying Y Ranch. “He was very easy to handle. He adapted to herd life very well,” said Dr. Sam Crosby, a veterinarian who owns Flying Y Ranch. Diana Pikulski, Director of External Affairs for TRF, added, “Beboppin Baby was special to us. He had an amazing career and he deserved to enjoy his retirement and golden years getting the care he needed. That is why Olivia’s Herd is such an important part of our program. We are very grateful to Dr. Crosby for the compassion and expertise he brings to Thoroughbred aftercare.”