Deputed Testamony, Maryland-bred hero of the 1983 Preakness Stakes and oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race, died Tuesday at Bonita Farm at age 32, The Aegis reports.
“He was 32 and lived a good life,” Billy Boniface, the farm’s manager, wrote in an e-mail to The Aegis newspaper. “Up until a few days ago his health was fine but grazing him last night, I could tell he was telling me it was time. DT wasn’t just a horse…he was family.”
Bred and raised by the Boniface family, Deputed Testamony was trained throughout his career by J. William Boniface, who is Billy Boniface’s father. The son of Traffic Cop did not race in the Kentucky Derby following a sixth place run in the 1983 Blue Grass Stakes but scored an emotional Preakness triumph when he upset Derby winner Sunny’s Halo by 2 1/2 lengths.
A sixth place finish in the Belmont Stakes followed next, though that summer would bring more accolades to Maryland’s favorite racing son. Deputed Testamony would later add the Grade I Haskell Invitational to his resume and retired in 1984 with 11 wins from 20 career starts and a bankroll of $674,329.
Deputed Testamony was the sire of 20 stakes winning horses and 10 Maryland Million Day winners, according to Bonita Farm’s website. He was pensioned from stud duty after 19 years and continued to live at Bonita Farm.
Alicia Wincze Hughes is the turf writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. She started riding at age 8 and was a four-year member of the Pace University equestrian team.
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