retirements | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grade 3 Winner Killybegs Captain Retired To Mill Creek Farm In New York

Graded stakes winner Killybegs Captain was retired this month and will enter stud in 2021 at Anne Morgan's and Tim Little's Mill Creek Farm in Stillwater, N.Y. The 7-year-old son of Mizzen Mast out of the Holy Bull mare Al Maha will stand his initial season for $2,500 live foal/stands and nurses.

Campaigned by Curragh Racing and trained by John Terranova, Killybegs Captain won seven of 27 starts with five seconds and three thirds for $572,453 in earnings. A $75,000 purchase at the 2016 OBS April 2-year-olds in training sale, Killybegs Captain was a winner at three, four, five and six and rose from the allowance ranks to become a stakes winner in his last two seasons.

Killybegs Captain scored his biggest victory in the Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park in 2019, defeating a field that included He Hate Me and New York Central in 1:08.10 for 6 furlongs.

Third in the G2 John A. Nerud Stakes at Belmont Park and G1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in 2019, Killybegs Captain also won back-to-back editions of the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in 2019 and 2020. He defeated multiple Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint in the 2019 edition of the Pelican, winning the six-furlong stakes in 1:09.66.

Bred by H. Allen Poindexter, Killybegs Captain is the sixth foal out of Al Maha, a half-sister to stakes winner Find the Treasure and the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Pontchatrain from the family of Grade 1 winner Past Forgetting and Grade 2 winner and sire Concerto.

Killybegs Captain is one of six winners out of Al Maha, who is also the dam of a now 2-year-old unnamed filly by Cross Traffic purchased for $50,000 by Tonja Terranova, agent for Curragh Racing at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale.

“He was a beautiful horse – sound horse – he retired sound,” Tonja Terranova, assistant to her husband, told Daily Racing Form. “He beat Imperial Hint, he was third to Mitole. He was just a solid racehorse; ran short, ran long.”

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Grade 2 Winner Shancelot Retired To Buck Pond Farm

A history-making sprinter when winning the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes with a 121 Beyer Speed Figure – the highest Beyer by a 3-year-old sprinter in history – Shancelot has been retired to Buck Pond Farm, Crawford Farms Racing announced Jan. 11. He will stand for a fee of $7,500 in 2021.

“We're excited to stand Shancelot in Kentucky where we recently purchased a farm close by,” said Al Crawford of Crawford Farms Racing. “We feel his incredible speed will attract a lot of breeders and we are very actively purchasing mares at the Keeneland January Sale to support him ourselves.”

Shancelot showed speed from the start when winning his first three races by a combined 19 lengths. In his six starts, Shancelot never finished worse than third and registered four career triple digit Beyer Speed Figures against the best horses in the sprint division. His record-breaking 121 Beyer Speed Figure is bested only by Arrogate in the 2015 Travers at ten furlongs (122) and Holy Bull in the 1994 Met Mile at eight furlongs (122) by 3-year-old colts.

Breaking his maiden over Grade 1 winner Bodexpress in his debut at Gulfstream Park, Shancelot romped to a 6 1/4-length victory in his second start before stepping up to stakes company that summer. The colt made history in his next start in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes with a 12 1/2 length victory to burst onto the sprinting scene with the aforementioned 121 Beyer Speed Figure.

That Beyer proved to be better than any other top sprinter that year, including champion sprinter Mitole ($15,000 stud fee), whose career best Beyer Speed Figure of 112 came in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Mitole's fellow Eclipse sprint male finalists World of Trouble ($15,000 stud fee) and Imperial Hint registered career dirt race bests of 109 and 114 respectively.

Following his Amsterdam romp, Shancelot ran exclusively in Grade 1 company from then on, coming just a head away from a Grade 1 victory in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes next out behind Mind Control.

Shipping to the West Coast for the first time, Shancelot ran a game second in the G1 Santa Anita Sprint Handicap. Racing in his traditional spot on the lead, he was collared near the wire by multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach ($35,000 stud fee) to lose by a just head.

Shancelot ended his career with a determined second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint to eventual Eclipse champion Mitole. Shancalot broke into triple digit Beyer Speed Figures for the fourth time in the race with a 110. A winner of half his starts, Shancelot retires with $624,300 in earnings.

“He is an absolutely gorgeous horse,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, “He had limitless ability. He was mentally talented with a great disposition. I am looking forward to seeing his offspring.”

By champion 2-year-old colt Shanghai Bobby, Shancelot is one of four stakes horses for the stakes-winning mare True Kiss. That mare is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Silver Max and a three-quarter sister to Grade 1 winner and successful sire Yes It's True.

“Shancelot could be a breed-changer with his speed. He was brilliantly fast, and comes from a fast family with a lot of class. He showed that class when competing among an incredibly strong division of sprinters,” added Buck Pond Farm's Doug Arnold.

Currently located at Fair Grounds with trainer Steve Asmussen, Shancelot is expected to ship to Kentucky soon and will be available for inspection at Buck Pond Farm upon his arrival.

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Grade 2 Winner Shancelot Retired; Stud Plans Pending

Shancelot, a Grade 2-winner and Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up, has been retired from racing after suffering a soft tissue injury following a Monday workout, Daily Racing Form reports.

The 5-year-old son of Shanghai Bobby had not raced since finishing second to Mitole in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Sprint. He had been working toward a comeback at Fair Grounds under trainer Steve Asmussen, aiming for the Saudi Sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard.

Shancelot retired with three wins in six starts for earnings of $624,300. Campaigned by Crawford Farms Racing, he won his first three career starts, capped off by a 12 1/2-length score in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes. He followed that effort with a third in the G1 H. Allen Jerkins Stakes before his Breeders' Cup start.

Shancelot was initially trained by Jorge Navarro, but the horse was transferred from his barn to Asmussen's last spring in the wake of a federal charges levied against Navarro, trainer Jason Servis, and several others tied to performance-enhancing drugs.

Charles Muth and Patrick Murphy bred Shancelot in Kentucky. He is out of the stakes-winning Is It True mare True Kiss.

Stud plans for Shancelot are pending.

Champion British Idiom Sold To Northern Farm In Japan

British Idiom, the champion 2-year-old female of 2019, has been sold to begin her broodmare career at Japan's Northern Farm, BloodHorse reports.

Bloodstock agent Liz Crow, an advisor for the filly's ownership group during her on-track career, told BloodHorse that the 4-year-old daughter of Flashback's sale was finalized in June, and she was exported to Japan in September. Her final start came in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes, which she exited with a chip in her right-front ankle.

British Idiom retired with three wins in five starts for earnings of $1,442,139.

She went unbeaten in three starts during her championship season, breaking her maiden by 3 1/2 lengths at Saratoga Race Course, then jumping up in class to take the G1 Alcibiades Stakes by a whopping 6 1/2 lengths. She secured her Eclipse Award in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park, catching favorite Donna Veloce to win by a neck.

Trained by Brad Cox, British Idiom raced for the partnership of Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and The Elkstone Group.

British Idiom was bred in Kentucky by Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton, and Silver Fern Farm.