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Royal Ascot-Winning Sprinter Nature Strip Retired After Unplaced Effort In Concorde

Multiple Group 1 winner Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}–Strikeline {Aus}, by Desert Sun {GB}), who is best known in the Northern Hemisphere as the winner of the 2022 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, has been retired, trainer Chris Waller announced on Saturday.

The 9-year-old gelding finished sixth in the G3 Concorde S. at Royal Randwick earlier in the day. Several of his owners, including Ron Lyons, were at the track when Waller made the announcement.

“I'm announcing Nature Strip's retirement on behalf of the owners… It's only fitting that we announce it as soon as the decision has been made,” Waller told Sky Sports Racing after the race.

“He came to the race sound and was trialling well; there had been no indication that race ability wasn't there, but he wasn't the same horse in the race today. The spark and acceleration weren't there. He's been such a champion horse.”

A winner of 22 of his 43 career starts, Nature Strip was named the Australian Horse of the Year twice in 2020 and 2022, while also racking up titles as the Australian Champion Male Sprinter (2020-2022), Champion Older Horse (2020 and 2022), and Champion Turf Male (2020). Also highly regarded in England from five to seven furlongs in 2022, the Golden Grove Stud Farm-bred won a total of nine top-level races, among them three editions of the T J Smith S. (2020-2022), the Sprint Classic in 2019 and 2021, the 2019 Moir S., 2021 Black Caviar Lightning, and the 2019 Galaxy. An A$90,000 RNA at the 2016 Inglis Melbourne Premiere Yearling Sale, he retires with a mark of 43-22-8-1 and $14,846,644 in earnings.

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George Main Renamed in Honor of King Charles III, The Everest Gets Purse Boost

Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club (ATC) announced on Sunday that the G1 George Main S. will be replaced by the G1 King Charles III S. at Royal Randwick starting this year. The King Charles III S. is named in honour of His Majesty The King and will be run over 1600 metres under weight-for-age conditions and carry a prize purse of A$5 million, making it the world's richest weight-for-age mile event. Last year's George Main S., won by Anamoe (Aus) (Street Boss), was worth A$1 million in 2022.

The King Charles will run on Oct. 14 along with the world's second-richest Thoroughbred race, the A$20 million The Everest (which rises from A$15 million). The entire card offers prizemoney of nearly A$35 million and includes the A$2 million The Kosciuszko, the A$1 million Silver Eagle, the A$500,000 St Leger S. and the A$250,000 G3 Angst S. Previously, the George Main S. was held two weeks prior to the G1 Epsom H.

“The King Charles III Stakes creates a new level of excitement for the Sydney Everest Carnival, with a feature open-age mile race boosting an already mouth-watering Everest Day meeting,” Racing NSW Chairman Russell Balding said. “It is also befitting of Royal Randwick to have a feature race in spring named in honour of His Majesty, to complement the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in autumn, with Royal Randwick being Australia's only Royal Racecourse.

“At $20 million of prizemoney, The TAB Everest is now the second-richest race in the world and the richest race on turf. This further increase in prizemoney is not only recognition of The TAB Everest as being the highest-rated race in Australia, but also of the success this event has created in flow-on benefits throughout the entire NSW Thoroughbred industry for the whole of the year.”

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Artorius Set For Audacious Royal Ascot And Everest Double

Group 1 winner Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) will likely return to Royal Ascot this year seeking to better his third-place finish behind Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. in 2022, co-owner Henry Field of Newgate Farm told TDN Aus/NZ.

“As long as he's going well and he's healthy, that's definitely the plan,” Field said. “He was unluckily beaten last year in the Platinum Jubilee when he was held up at a vital stage, and I think he can go back there. There's no question he's got the ability, and he's more seasoned from the experience.”

Before Ascot, the 4-year-old is set to make his seasonal debut in the G1 Canterbury S. at Royal Randwick on Mar. 4. Leading Hong Kong jockey Zac Purton will be aboard and will ride in his native Australia for the first time since the 2018 G1 Melbourne Cup.

“Artorius is a very important horse to us,” Field said. “He has such an elite profile that we had to think outside the square rider-wise, and Zac is one of the dominant riders anywhere in the world right now. He's probably as good a rider as there's ever been in Hong Kong, and a very strong rider that we thought would suit Artorius nicely.”

Artorius was also third in the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket and hasn't run since a sixth-place finish in the G1 Arc Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville on Aug. 7.

The colt will likely return to Australia to contest the G1 Everest S. at Royal Randwick on Oct. 14 in what will likely be his final start in that richest sprint race the world has to offer at A$15.

“I'd say it will be very likely he'll be retired to stud at the end of this season, but I do genuinely believe he is a horse with enough natural ability to win an Everest, so those conversations will be had with the ownership group,” Field said.

Artorius has not won a race since taking the 2021 G1 Blue Diamond S. but has placed in five Group 1s. He won a trial race at Warwick Farm last week in preparation for his comeback. His career line stands at 14-2-3-4 and he has amassed A$1,808,349 in prize-money.

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Hong Kong Superstar Purton to Ride Artorius in Australia

Top Hong Kong-based jockey Zac Purton will return to ride in his native Australia for the first time since the 2018 G1 Melbourne Cup, Australia's News Corp. reported.

The 40-year-old reinsman will pilot Group 1 winner Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) in the G1 Canterbury S., the 2-year-old King's Gambit (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) in the G2 Todman S. and possibly Communist (Aus) (Russian Revolution {Aus}) in the G1 Randwick Guineas, all at Royal Randwick on Mar. 4.

“I am coming back to ride Artorius in the Canterbury Stakes and some other very good horses,” Purton told News Corp. “It works out well because I got suspended [Sunday] in Hong Kong and I start my suspension after I ride in Sydney, so maybe I can spend a bit of extra time there [in Australia.

Purton has won Group 1 races in five countries since he started riding in 2007.

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