Al Shaqab Racing's Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro–Thunder Bayou, by Thunder Gulch), a Grade I winner on turf and dirt, has been retired from racing after being diagnosed with a minor suspensory injury Friday morning. After consulting with Dr. Duncan Moir, it was determined that the 6-year-old would be forced to miss the rest of his major objectives for 2016 and the decision was taken by the Al Shaqab team to call it a career. Mshawish was an intended runner for next Saturday's GI Metropolitan H. and was to breeze for the race Friday morning. He will enter stud in 2017 at Taylor Made Stallions in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
“Although it's sad to miss the Met Mile next Saturday and to not finish out the rest of 2016, it's hard to do anything but smile looking back at Mshawish's long career,” said Bradley Weisbord, U.S. advisor to Al Shaqab Racing. “He was as consistent an elite racehorse that there is.”
Bred in Kentucky by OTIF 2007, Mshawish, a two-time Keeneland sales graduate, was knocked down to Nicolas de Watrigant's Mandore International Agency for €170,000 at the 2012 Arqana May Breeze-Up, the third-highest price of the sale. Trained initially by Mikel Delzangles, the bay was close fourth to Dawn Approach (Ire) in the 2013 G1 St James's Palace S., then earned his first black-type success in the Listed Prix de Tourgeville in his next appearance.
Impressive winner of the G2 Zabeel Mile and a creditable fourth to Longines World's Best Racehorse Just a Way (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in the G1 Dubai Duty Free S. during the 2014 Dubai International Racing Carnival, Mshawish was repatriated later that summer and joined the barn of Todd Pletcher. He capped a three-race winning skein with a nose tally in the GI Gulfstream Park Turf H. ahead of a third to top-class Solow (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) in his second crack at the Dubai Turf last March.
Connections had long toyed with the idea of trying the dirt-bred Mshawish on the main track and, in just his second try over the surface, he proved a game winner of the GIII Hal's Hope S. at Gulfstream Park. A 9-2 chance in that venue's GI Donn H., Mshawish was angled out entering the stretch and ran out a two-length winner. Having recorded triple-digit Beyers in each of his final seven starts in North America, Mshawish retires with eight wins–seven black-type–from 24 starts and earnings of $2,421,351, making him the most accomplished of his sire's offspring to enter stud.
“It's extremely unfortunate because he had been training so well up to next Saturday's Met Mile, and the entire team was very confident and looking forward to a big second-half of the year,” said Ben Taylor, Vice President of Taylor Made Stallions. “The positive is that Mshawish is an exciting stallion prospect that's had a tremendous racing career, which he was able to take to another level when he switched to the dirt. The injury is a relatively minor one that he'll get over, and if he were a 3-year-old, you wouldn't even hesitate about bringing him back. We really look forward to standing Mshawish and introducing him to breeders. Medaglia d'Oro is one of the top stallions in the world, and Mshawish is his most accomplished son, with fast Grade 1 wins on both dirt and turf.”
Said Pletcher, “Mshawish has always impressed me with his versatility, high-cruising speed and neat ability to also have an exciting turn of foot. He was top-class on both surfaces, and showed up every time we led him over there. It's a shame he's going to miss the Met Mile, as that race would have suited him perfectly. He was a fun one to train, one that the stable will really miss. I look forward to training his babies a few years down the road.”
Added Weisbord, “He is an incredibly special horse for the entire Al Shaqab team, and really helped us get the U.S. operation off the ground. I am looking forward to seeing him pass that top-class grittiness and consistency onto his progeny, and having quite a few run in the Al Shaqab colors. We will undoubtedly support him heavily.”
Mshawish descends from the female family of the talented Lu Ravi (A.P. Indy), whose half-sister Half Queen (Deputy Minister) produced champion Halfbridled (Unbridled).
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