Heiress Believes Champion Horse Was Slain

A dead champion show horse and a rare parasite add up to murder in the eyes of Orange County philanthropist and breeder Joan Irvine Smith, who has posted a $10,000 reward for information on the death six weeks ago of her prized stallion South Pacific.

The possible motive? Jealousy, Smith believes, over the success of her breeding program, centered on the $1.5-million horse who sired at least 14 top performers in show-jump competitions.

“I think it was somebody that may have thought that if they killed the horse, that might stop the program or take away my incentive,” Smith said. “I think somebody wanted me out of business and didn’t realize the depth of the horse program that we have.”

Smith suspects that someone slipped into her stud ranch, the Oaks Indian Hill Ranch at Valley Springs in San Diego County, and injected the parasite Halicephalobus deletrix into the horse.

But parasite experts were skeptical that someone would go to the trouble to acquire the extremely rare organism.

“If I wanted to get rid of a horse, it would be a hell of a lot easier to pick up toxins that would go undetected than it would be to go out and find Halicephalobus,” said Dr. Lawrence Ash, a parasitologist at UCLA. “I’ve been a parasitologist for 40-some odd years. If you asked me to go out and get some, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Smith is a wealthy descendant of one of California’s most influential ranching families.

One of South Pacific’s offspring recently sold for $43,000. Smith said she has about 65 of South Pacific’s offspring among her nearly 400 horses on three ranches.

“It’s a tremendous loss to the horse industry,” she said. “There’s frozen semen that I have in the bank, but I’ll use it on my own mares. I won’t sell any of it.”

Smith has taken her campaign to various media, establishing a tip line--(800) 250-3715--and a Web site at https:/www.theoaksfarms.com/$10,000.htm that traces the history of South Pacific and the circumstances leading up to his death. She has also hired a private investigator.

South Pacific was euthanized April 15 after falling ill a month earlier. Initially, Smith said, veterinarians thought the problem might be related to vaccines for a bacterial infection called strangles.

A biopsy, though, turned up Halicephalobus deletrix. A necropsy found the worms in the brain, optic nerves and kidneys, which had been all but destroyed. The necropsy also turned up no signs of abrasions that might have been the parasite’s entry point, and no indication that it had been swallowed.

Veterinarian Matt J. Matthews said he is baffled by the death. Although he said he detected no sign that the horse had been tampered with, he also found no evidence that the animal contracted the parasite naturally.

“We have absolutely no idea of the [parasite’s] entry into this horse, and so of course that leaves things open for speculation,” he said.

Ash said it is possible that the parasite entered through a small cut that went unnoticed and healed before the onset of symptoms.

The parasite, which lives in dirt, is so rare that little is known about its life cycle, he said. He added that he is aware of three cases of human infestation, all fatal but none occurring in the U.S.