retirement

Two-time UAE champion Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who raced for His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed Racing, has been retired to Godophin's Rehoming after a lengthy career at the highest level. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the bay's biggest claim to fame was a trio of victories in Meydan's G1 Dubai Turf in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He also won the 202 G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and a pair of Group 3s, including the 2023 Winter Derby. He was second in the 2022 and...

Veteran rider Franny Norton, who announced his retirement earlier this week, rode a trio of winners at Chester to end his career on a high. Norton enjoyed seven rides on Saturday, prevailing with 1-3 favourite Raneenn (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the EBF "Confined" Fillies' Novice Stakes for trainer William Haggas and owner Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum in the day's third race. Haggas said, "It was lovely to give him a winner on his last day. He rode the most brilliant race for us a few years ago (2017) on a...

Jockey Franny Norton will retire on Sept. 21, the contemporary of Frankie Dettori announced on Instagram. The Liverpool native will end his career riding at Chester Racecourse. Norton, who turned 54 this year, began riding in 1988. A Chester specialist, he was a close ally of Mark Johnston, and now rides for his son Charlie, among others. Throughout his career, Norton has been associated with several Pattern winners including Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), and G1 St Leger second Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}), to name a few. A notable...

As first reported by Horse Racing Nation, 80-1 GI Kentucky Derby shocker Rich Strike (Keen Ice) has suffered another setback due to an injury sustained during a training session in New York. According to an interview with the publication, Rich Strike had been in training with Bill Mott up at Saratoga when a ligament tear was discovered in his left front leg, albeit in a different location from the previous suspensory ligament injury, and he was sent back to Margaux Farm in Midway, KY. "I'll know exactly what I'm going...

Jockey Gerald Mosse, who has ridden for 41 years, has called time on his career after his weekend rides, he announced on Saturday. He will begin his next career, as a public trainer based at Chantilly, on Sept. 1. A winner of more than 90 Group 1 races worldwide, including all of the French and Hong Kong Classics, the Marseille native has found success in Hong Kong, Bahrain, Dubai, and Singapore, as well as England and Italy. Early in his career, he rode for Jean-Luc Lagardere and His Highness The...

VIBRANT FORCE: HOW AFTERCARE SHOULD WORK Just over three years ago, we launched Wasabi Aftercare Fund to provide safe and secure retirements for all horses that are bred and/or raced by Wasabi Ventures Stables. Recently, we assisted in our first retirement of a horse bred, but not raced, by WVS. On Febr. 24, 2021, Vibrant Spirit foaled a healthy colt by Force the Pass. It was determined that he would not be kept to run for Wasabi. Rather than bring him to auction, WVS sold the colt to Bobby Flock...

Rob O'Connor II, for nearly four decades a fixture on the Kentucky racing circuit, has announced his retirement from training, he told the Churchill Downs media office. "There are so many people in this game that are unable to retire on their own terms and I'm very fortunate to say I'm able to do so," O'Connor said. "This sport is so special to me and I'm so proud to have built a life in it. I've had a great career and was around so many dedicated owners throughout my time...

Jon White, who first went to work for Santa Anita as a television commentator in 1993 and later took over as the morning-line oddsmaker in 2009, has announced that he will be retiring when the track's current Hollywood meet ends on June 16. "I've been contemplating retirement for four years or so and feel the time is right," White said. "I'm about to turn 69 and would very much like to retire while in good health. I am very grateful for the opportunity to first work as a television broadcaster...

Adrian Heskin, who became the youngest winning rider at the Cheltenham Festival when steering A New Story (Ire) (Fourstars Allstar) to victory in the 2010 Glenfarclas Chase as a 17-year-old, has announced his retirement from race-riding at the age of 32. The County Cork native went on to become retained rider for prominent owner Barry Connell, for whom he partnered Martello Tower to Grade 1 success in the 2015 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, before later moving to Britain to take up the same position with Max McNeill. Together the pair...

Veteran jockey Olivier Peslier will make his final rides in the saddle at La Teste-de-Buch on Thursday, the Frenchman announced on Tuesday. A four-time winner of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the 51-year-old rider confirmed to Equidia that he had "carefully thought about his decision". Also named the French Champion Jockey four times--in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000--Peslier has ridden over 3,700 winners worldwide in his 35-year career. At least 165 victories were at Grade/Group 1 level, including three Breeders' Cup Mile scores aboard the talented Goldikova (Ire)...

Fergal O'Brien and Colin Tizzard were among those to pay tribute to Paddy Brennan, the Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider who retired at the age of 43 after partnering Manothepeople (Ire) (Mahler {GB}) to victory at Prestbury Park on Wednesday. Brennan recorded over 1,500 winners in a career as a National Hunt jockey spanning more than two decades, notably landing the 2010 Gold Cup on Imperial Commander. His other high-profile victories at the Cheltenham Festival included the 2007 World Hurdle on Inglis Drever, while he'll also be remembred for his association...

Trainer Ralph Nicks will call it a career Sunday after saddling a horse for the final time at Gulfstream Park. "It's time," Nicks said. "I've been here a long time. It's just the way the business is going, with clients passing away. I've had a lot of years invested. I want to get away and do some things before I get too old and can't." The 57-year-old has saddled 722 winners, including Caledonia Road, the winner of the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar who was subsequently...