The star stayer retires after a stellar career for John & Thady Gosden, collecting over £3.4m in prize money with seven Group One victories; his biggest wins include three Ascot Gold Cups, four Goodwood Cups and two Doncaster Cups
Monday 26 September 2022 17:15, UK
Three-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Stradivarius has been retired at the age of eight, having been slow to recover from the bruised foot he sustained last month.
In a remarkable career, John and Thady Gosden's star stayer won three Ascot Gold Cups as well as four Goodwood Cups, three Lonsdale Cups and two Doncaster Cups for owner Bjorn Nielsen.
The eight-year-old chestnut won a total of 20 races from 35 starts, collecting prize money of over £3.4 million.
Stradivarius was a late absentee in the Lonsdale Cup at York last month due to a bruised foot, with the horse taking longer than expected to recover from the problem.
"He has been trotting and cantering but it has taken longer to get over the bruised foot than we thought," Nielsen told the Racing Post.
"We felt it would be unfair to ask him to come back again as a nine-year-old next season after his enforced time off.
"It has been a fairytale from start to finish. Until this setback, he had never been medicated and had never missed an engagement through injury."
Nielsen also spoke to the Nick Luck Podcast, saying: "He's had a fabulous career, he's never - pardon the pun - put a foot wrong. He went out there beaten a neck at Goodwood. He ran a great race and he's gone out at the top.
"I never wanted to see this horse finish running in fifth or sixth somewhere in a race next year, I'd much prefer to see him go out on a high.
"Of course I would love to see him go on for another eight years, but I think it's time and time for him to see if he can produce anything near himself in the next few years, which I certainly hope he can.
"He will go to the National Stud and we're very much looking forward to that."
