Toby Sheets was a long-time horse trainer and worked with Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. He was found dead on Sunday in Mathraki.
“He did pass away in Greece,” Greg Sheets, Toby’s cousin, told Thoroughbred Daily News. “As of right now, that’s all we know. The family is trying to figure out what happened.”
Sheets was 55 years old.
Sheets’ death follows a spate of mysterious deaths on Greek Islands in the last few weeks. Seven tourists, mostly hikers, have gone missing or been found dead in the last month.
Some of the deaths could be due to a heat wave, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees in some parts of the country.
Sheets’ cause of death has not been disclosed.
Sheets lived on an island with a population less than 100, west of Corfu. Corfu is a more popular island. Mathraki has a surface area of only 1.2 square kilometers.
Asmussen, of Thoroughbred Daily News, said: “Today has been a part our stable for many, many years. He was instrumental in our Belmont Stakes victory with Creator as well as the expert handling of Haynesfield, among other things.” His family and friends will miss him greatly.
CBS reports that Sheets went missing for the first time on Thursday. She was last seen Tuesday in a café with two other tourists. The two female tourists who were with Sheets have now left the island.
The New York Times reported that Mathraki’s Deputy Mayor Spyros Argyros found the body in the surf at a beach spot that had been previously searched. “It seems like he washed up from the sea within the last 24 hours,” Argyros said.
