Over the last four years, one horse has been at the center of Louisiana racing – Ivery Sisters Racing's Monte Man. His trainer and Fair Grounds' 2021 title-winner Ron Faucheux has announced that it is time for this 9-year old gelding to step away from the racetrack. Monte Man will spend his retirement at Clear Creek Stud, where his sire Custom for Carlos stands.
“Val Murrel who owns Clear Creek, he bred Monte Man and is happy to take him in,” Faucheux said. “Clear Creek is the nicest farm in Louisiana–at this point, being a 9-year old, he's been so great to us, we'd rather see him have a happy life from this point forward.”
Connections had planned to run him in the Costa Rising Stakes, a race which Monte Man won twice and finished second by a nose, but the gelding did not come back from his Friday workout as well as his trainer had hoped.
“He's sound as can be,” Faucheux said. “Looks great, walks great, legs look good. He just has something a little faint. Something that some trainers would push through, but I'm not going to take any chances.”
Claimed for $25,000 by Ivery Sisters Racing and Faucheux in October of 2017, Monte Man won a local optional-claimer that December to kick off a seven-race winning streak for his new connections. Monte Man ended his career in stakes-winning fashion, scoring his ninth stakes win in the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Sprint on Dec. 11, 2021.
“I was looking at the win pictures last night,” Faucheux said. “He's beaten some great horses. He hasn't run worse than fourth since the end of his 4-year old career. Goes to show you how much heart that horse has. He might not run the best numbers as some of the Kentucky sprinters floating around the country, but he has been so consistent throughout the process. That's all you can ask–they run to their ability.”
All told, Monte Man finishes his career 50-18-8-9 with earnings of $794,223.
“I feel honored to have trained him throughout that process,” Faucheux said. “He's been a barn favorite, a fan favorite, a special horse–you could hear it in John Dooley's emotional call of his last race.”
“Here comes the gladiator, Monte Man with that battler's heart for Adam Beschizza. Monte Man now an 18-time winner–well done Monte Man!” — John G. Dooley, Fair Grounds Track Announcer
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