Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern dies in South Korea at 14

Bayern, the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, died July 5 at Great Hill Farm in South Korea after complications from emergency hernia surgery. The stallion, who had stood in Korea since 2022, developed colitis after the operation and was euthanized after intensive care failed to save him.

Bayern was a front-running colt with real brilliance at seven furlongs and the stamina to carry that speed farther. Bred in Kentucky by Helen Alexander out of Alittlebitearly, Bayern sold for $320,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and went on to give owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Bob Baffert 15 starts, six wins, one second and three thirds for $4,454,930 in earnings.

At Santa Anita Park on Nov. 1, 2014, in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Bayern veered sharply left at the start, bumped Shared Belief and affected other runners, then survived a 10-minute stewards’ inquiry to keep the victory. That finish sealed his place in the modern Classic record book, but it also fixed his reputation as a horse whose raw talent and reckless opening stride were impossible to separate. He had already shown his class in the Woody Stephens Stakes, Haskell Invitational Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby.

The farm said it fought “day and night,” used “every possible medical intervention,” and remembered his “extraordinary presence,” “gentle eyes” and “magnificent, overwhelming power” on the track. It also expressed hope that his progeny would carry on his bloodline.

Bayern sired Canadian champion female sprinter Hazelbrook, Korean champion sprinter and miler Raon the Fighter, Grade I winner Speed Boat Beach and graded winner Leggs Galore. Through his first seven crops, Bayern had produced 244 foals of racing age, 200 starters and 174 winners, Daily Racing Form data showed.