Marche Lorraine, the winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Distaff and the second-ever Japanese-based Breeders' Cup winner, has been retired from racing and will be bred to top young Japanese sire Drefong, Racing Post reports.
The 6-year-old Orfevre mare will reside at Northern Farm in Hokkaido, Japan, following a career where she won nine of 22 starts and earned $3,445,677 for owner U. Carrot Farm and trainer Yoshito Yahagi.
A winner of four local graded races on Japan's NARS dirt circuit, Marche Lorraine shocked the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar, holding on to win by a nose at odds of 49-1. She made one final start in the Group 1 Saudi Cup on Feb. 26, facing male competition and finishing sixth.
Drefong, a 9-year-old son of Gio Ponti, was Japan's leading freshman sire of 2021. He earned the Eclipse Award as champion sprinter of 2016 following a campaign that saw him win that season's G1 King's Bishop Stakes and Breeders' Cup Sprint. He came back at four to win the G1 Forego Stakes.
Drefong stands at Shadai Stallion Station. His debut crop of runners included Group 3 winner Geoglyph, Group 2-placed Kawakita Reverie, and stakes winner Consigliere.
Read more at Racing Post.
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