21 Facts About Sea Hero

Sea Hero was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1993 Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes.

Sea Hero was bred in Virginia by Paul Mellon and raced for Mellon's Rokeby Stables.

Sea Hero was by Polish Navy, who was a good racehorse but otherwise a disappointment as a sire.

In 1992, Mellon, then aged 84, started dispersing most of his stock but kept Sea Hero, who was in training with MacKenzie Miller.

Sea Hero was considered somewhat temperamental and had a habit of getting his tongue over the bit, forcing Miller to experiment with different equipment.

Sea Hero made his racing debut on July 13,1992, in a maiden special weight race at Belmont Park, in which he finished fourth.

Sea Hero next won an allowance race on the turf then switched to dirt to win the Grade I Champagne Stakes.

Sea Hero finished the year with a seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

At the start of his three-year-old campaign, Sea Hero was winless in his first three starts.

Sea Hero's best result was a fourth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes to Prairie Bayou, who then became the lukewarm favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

Sea Hero then finished fourth in the Jim Dandy Stakes, thus entering the Travers with a three-race losing streak.

Sea Hero tracked behind the early pace, then angled wide to get running room.

Sea Hero became the first Derby winner to win the Travers since Shut Out in 1942.

Sea Hero then shipped to Woodbine racetrack for the Molson Export Million, where he finished third to Canadian Triple Crown winner Peteski.

Sea Hero finished second in the Eclipse Award balloting for Champion three-year-old to Prairie Bayou, who had been more consistent in his brief career.

At age four, Sea Hero had one win from eight starts, plus a second-place finish in the Bowling Green Handicap on the turf.

Sea Hero was retired to stud at Lane's End Farm in 1995 but was considered a disappointment.

Sea Hero did not sire a stakes winner until his second-crop became of racing age.

Sea Hero is the sire of fifteen stakes winners and has proved a successful broodmare sire.

Sea Hero died in July 2019 in Turkey at the age of 29, where he had lived since 1999.

Sea Hero's death was attributed to infirmities of old age.