PARADISE CREEK (Irish River [Fr]), the champion turf male of 1994, has died in Japan. The news was first reported by the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association, which said the 22-year-old passed away April 4.
Bred in Virginia by Bert Firestone, Paradise Creek raced in the green and white colors of his breeder for much of his career. He was also a member of a tremendous crop of American-bred turf runners which included Lure, whom he raced against seven times, and Bien Bien.
A debut winner on turf at Belmont at two, Paradise Creek raced only once on dirt, finishing a distant fourth in the 1991 Hopeful S. (G1). Sidelined for nearly 10 months after that loss, he emerged as one of the leading turf three-year-olds of 1992, winning the Hollywood Derby (G1) and National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. (G2), with second-place efforts in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1), Secretariat S. (G1) and Palisades H. It was in the Breeders' Cup at Gulfstream where Paradise Creek first met Claiborne Farm's outstanding Lure, and it would be some time before he finally beat that rival.
Paradise Creek's four-year-old campaign was a brief one, consisting of only five races. He failed to win a stakes, and dropped three decisions to Lure. His best finishes were runner-up efforts in the Citation H. (G2) and Kelso H. (G3).
Paradise Creek came into his own in 1994, his final season of racing. In a campaign considered rugged to modern eyes, the dark bay made 11 starts from January to November, including a trip across the Pacific Ocean for the Japan Cup (Jpn-G1). He raced in the colors of Masayuki Nishiyama for much of the year after his breeding rights were sold, but continued to be trained by Bill Mott.
Paradise Creek opened up his scorecard with six straight wins, taking the Appleton H. (G3), Canadian Turf H. (G2), Fort Lauderdale H., Early Times Turf Classic (G2), Dixie H. (G2) and Manhattan H. (G1). His scores in the Early Times Turf Classic and Dixie were his first against Lure, and he completed a sweep of a then-existing three-race turf series coinciding with the Triple Crown when taking the Manhattan by a whopping 6 3/4 lengths in course-record time of 1:57 3/5 for 1 1/4 miles.
After losing to Lure by a length in the Bernard Baruch H. (G2), Paradise Creek was back on form when taking both the Arlington Million (G1) and the last-ever running of the Washington D.C. International (G1). However, Paradise Creek turned in his dullest performance of the season when third by three lengths in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) at Churchill Downs. Paradise Creek was next sent overseas for the Japan Cup, where he turned in a credible performance in defeat finishing second by a nose to Marvelous Crown.
With eight stakes wins and a 2-1 season advantage over Lure, Paradise Creek was honored with an Eclipse Award as champion turf male. He concluded his career with a mark of 25-14-7-1, $3,401,415.
Paradise Creek stood at Arrow Stud on the island of Hokkaido through 2010. Among his leading offspring were T M Precure, Japan's juvenile filly champion of 2005.
Paradise Creek's demise comes soon after that of his dam, North of Eden (Ire) (Northfields), who died last month in Florida at the age of 28. A half-sister to turf champion Theatrical (Ire) (Tree of Knowledge), North of Eden also produced Grade 1 winners Forbidden Apple (Pleasant Colony) and Wild Event (Wild Again) in addition to Paradise Creek. This is the family of multiple English highweight David Junior (Pleasant Tap) and this female line also produced the likes of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner *Prince Royal II (*Ribot) and juvenile filly champion Landaluce (Seattle Slew).
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