2005 Derby winner Motivator dies after 20th season at stud

Motivator, the 2005 Derby winner who later became the sire of dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Treve, died at Haras du Hoguenet after completing his 20th season at stud. The son of Montjeu is believed to have died on July 3, 2026, after a suspected heart attack, with the stud confirming the news on July 4.

Foaled on February 22, 2002, and bred by Deerfield Farm for The Royal Ascot Racing Club, Motivator was a colt who moved quickly into the Classic frame and never really left it. He won four of seven career starts and earned £1,192,457, beginning with the 2004 Racing Post Trophy before returning at three to take the 2005 Dante Stakes at York by 1½ lengths on soft ground in 2m 16.17s. The Dante confirmed the class that followed him to Epsom, where he started as the 3/1 favorite in the 226th running of the Derby and won by five lengths from Walk In The Park, with Dubawi third, in 2m 35.69s.

That Derby was the defining race of Motivator’s track career, but it was not his last major performance. After Epsom, he was beaten by Oratorio in both the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, then finished fifth behind Hurricane Run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp. In seven starts, he never finished worse than fifth, a record that underlined the consistency and middle-distance quality that made him such a prominent colt in 2005.

His influence endured far beyond the racecourse. Motivator went on to sire Treve, one of the modern era’s great turf fillies and a two-time Arc winner, and Racing Post progeny records also list Hamish, Ridasiyna, Sky Hunter, Pallasator and Bakhchisaray among his notable offspring. Michael Bell, who trained him, and Harry Herbert, who owned him with The Royal Ascot Racing Club, both looked back on the 2005 season as one of the highlights of their racing lives, with Epsom’s atmosphere still remembered as one of the defining scenes of that Derby.