Lexington, KY — Boulder Creek p,4,1:48.1, the sport’s 10th richest pacer of all time with earnings of $3,425,857, died last week at Olive Branch Farm in North Carolina due to colic. He was 23 years old and had enjoyed retirement at Olive Branch Farm for several years.

Boulder Creek died last week at Olive Branch Farm in North Carolina due to colic. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

Bred by Barry and Debbie Bird and Cyril Hayes, Boulder Creek was immediately a stakes winner in the Ontario Sires Stakes program for trainer Bill Budd. Mark Silva trained Boulder Creek at the height of his racing career, including for his Breeders Crown Open Pace victories at ages four and five, with Ron Pierce and Brian Sears, respectively, driving him.

Before winning the Breeders Crown Open Pace at age five, Boulder Creek memorably won the U.S. Pacing Championship (now Sam McKee Memorial) on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands, starting from post eight, taking the lead, and then, despite being passed in the stretch drive, battling back to win by a neck over Georgia Pacific in 1:48.4.

Later that year he was voted the Dan Patch Older Pacer of the Year.