Breeders’ Cup Classic Winner Pleasantly Perfect Dies In Turkey At Age 22

Pleasantly Perfect led a quartet of Mandella-trained winners in the 2003 Breeders’ Cup

Pleasantly Perfect, the winner of the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic and a veteran sire, died Wednesday in Turkey at 22 years old, Thoroughbred Daily News reports.

The son of Pleasant Colony was bred in Kentucky by Clovelly Farms, and sold as a yearling to Diamond A Racing Corp for $725,000. He made the jump into the national scene at the end of his 3-year-old campaign, winning the Grade 2 Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Santa Anita Park.

Pleasantly Perfect came back at four to successfully defend his title in that race, which set him up to become the centerpiece in trainer Richard Mandella’s four-win performance in the 2003 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita. The colt triumphed as a 14-1 underdog over favorite Medaglia d’Oro in the Classic, and that same exacta occurred once again in the 2004 Dubai World Cup.

After returning from Dubai, Pleasantly Perfect added a win in the G1 Pacific Classic Stakes and a third in the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs before retiring with nine wins in 18 starts for earnings of $7,789,880.

Pleasantly Perfect retired to Lane’s End in Versailles, Ky., for the 2005 breeding season, and he remained there until the conclusion of the 2014 season, when he was sold to stand at the Turkish National Stud. He was pensioned from stud duty in 2019.

Domestically, the stallion’s top runners include Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account and Grade 1 winner Whitmore. He is also the sire of Rapid Redux, who earned a Special Eclipse Award in 2011 for his 22-race winning streak, a North American record.