Deaths of Yes It's True, Keeper Hill announced

The deaths of Grade 1 winners Yes It's True and Keeper Hill were announced Tuesday by Three Chimneys Farm and Mill Ridge Farm, respectively.

Yes It's True, 19, was euthanized Monday at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute after surgery to repair a perforated intestine proved unsuccessful. The son of Is It True won 11 of 22 starts for earnings of $1,080,700.

Yes It's True earned his signature win in the 1999 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G1) at Laurel and also captured nine other sprints stakes, seven of which were graded. Another memorable win came in the 1999 Maryland Breeders' Cup H. (G3) at Pimlico when an inebriated fan, Lee Chang Ferrell, ran out onto the track as the horses were in the stretch and threw a punch at eventual sprint champion Artax.

Among the top runners Yes It's True sired were Grade 1 winners The Big Beast, Proud Accolade, and La Verdad, the latter a leading candidate for champion female sprint honors this year. This year's Delaware Oaks (G3) winner Calamity Kate is also a daughter of Yes It's True.

Keeper Hill, 20, died last Friday according to Mill Ridge. The Deputy Minister mare won 4 of 21 starts for earnings of $1,661,281.

In 1998, Keeper Hill captured the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Las Virgenes (G1), and also won the Spinster (G1) the following year. She placed in nine other stakes, eight at Grade 1 level, including the 1998 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).

Keeper Hill's most successful offspring was Keep Up, who captured the 2012 River City H. (G3) at Churchill Downs.