Cecil Seaman, recognized as the Thoroughbred industry's leading expert in equine biomechanics, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 7 at his home in Lexington, Kentucky, according to his wife, Sally Nims-Seaman. He was 85.“He was still measuring horses up until he was 81,” said Nims-Seaman. “He was a great guy and it was a privilege to be married to him.”Nims-Seaman, who had been conducting the equine measurement part of the business on Seaman's behalf for the past four years, will continue to run the business.Seaman began collecting physical measurements on horses in 1969 and established Cecil Seaman & Co in 1977. He estimated that he personally measured over 114,000 horses, compiling one of the sport's largest proprietary anatomical databases, according to his website.Seaman consulted for a wide spectrum of leading commercial breeders, sales buyers, and racing operations, advising on stallion selections, yearling sales inspections, and broodmare band management. His work aimed to provide a data-driven counterbalance to purely subjective yearling inspection and traditional catalog-page pedigree reading, demonstrating that biomechanical compatibility significantly increased the probability of stakes-level talent and durability.“He also did a huge study of weight on over 44,000 yearlings in the sales and determined that excess weight of 6% or more negatively affected a horse's lifetime ability to run to its biomechanical ability,” said Nims-Seaman.Those clients and breeders included some of the biggest names in the sport, including Will Farish, Bobby Trussell, Jon Marshall, John and Susan Moore, George Strawbridge, Roy Gottlieb and Morton Fink, Andreas Putsch, Bad Boy Racing, Jaqueline Getty, Scott Heider, John Nerud, Ken Ramsey and others too numerous to mention.His work helped clients to breed and race 116 Grade I winners, have over 200 Grade I wins, 46 millionaires, 27 Eclipse Award winners, 15 Classic winners, 37 Champions, and 13 Breeders' Cup winners, totaling more than $300,000,000 in earnings.In a testimonial on his website, Will Farish said, “Cecil Seaman has been on retainer with me since 1980 as my consultant on mating recommendations, and yearlings and stallion evaluations. His method of biomechanical evaluations/statistical analyses has proven of tremendous benefit in the improvement of the soundness and class of our broodmare band, stallions, and racehorses. His scientific research has given us better insight into the probable abilities of a horse for breeding and racing, as well as the conditions to maximize the horses' potential.”His patented color-coded GDT (Genetic Dominance Tree) report, which identifies and evaluates phenotype consistency in a pedigree which he utilized to do matings of mares to stallions, is the only patent of its kind in the Thoroughbred industry.“One thing he was really proud of was that in 2013, his clients were represented by four runners in the Kentucky Derby,” said Nims-Seaman. “That's 20 percent of the field. He also did the mating that produced A. P. Indy, and did the matings on seven Belmont Stakes winners for Mr. Farish.”Most recently, he did the mating for Emphatic (Nyquist), who won the Grade I Darley Alcibiades five days before his passing, according to Nims-Seaman.Seaman was born Sept. 18, 1941, and grew up in Springfield, Ohio, as the oldest of 10 children. Seaman had a lifelong love of nature. In later years, he especially enjoyed hiking in the North Carolina mountains, visiting waterfalls, and exploring state parks. As a youngster, he had rescued many wild animals and nursed them back to health. He was fascinated with geology and amassed a large rock collection from his many hikes. He enjoyed working in his summer vegetable gardens. His curiosity never left him, and he spent his entire life amassing knowledge about how things worked. Starting as a youngster, he was fascinated by the mechanics of engines, developing a rotary engine at the age of 15, and this translated into curiosity about how horses worked biomechanically. He worked with as many great farm managers, horsemen, trainers, veterinarians, and chiropractors as he could to enhance his knowledge of all things horse-related.In addition to his wife, he is survived by two children, Jon and Kimberly.“He was an excellent horseman, loved to train horses himself, and deeply cared about trying to improve the breed for class, soundness and consistency,” said Nims-Seaman. “He dedicated his life to this. He probably had his hands on more horses during his life than anyone else on earth.”A celebration of life will be held at Fasig-Tipton in the sales pavilion on Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions may be made to Old Friends TB Retirement Farm, 1841 Paynes Depot Rd., Georgetown, KY 40324.The post Cecil Seaman Passes Away at 85 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.