Stradivarius, the three-time Gold Cup winner and the undisputed champion stayer of his generation, has been retired to stud.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) won three Yorkshire Cups and two Doncaster Cups but will be best remembered for those epic Gold Cup triumphs at Ascot.
Owned by Bjorn Nielsen, who told TDN Europe about his intention to support the popular chestnut at stud upon his retirement, Stradivarius will join the roster at the National Stud.
The 8-year-old bows out from the game as an eight-time Group 1 winner who won 20 of his 35 starts and netted connections almost £3.5million in prize-money.
While he didn't manage to win at the top level this season, he won a the G2 Yorkshire Cup on his seasonal return, and was last seen chasing home the new kid on the block, Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), in the G1 Goodwood Cup.
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 said.
“We felt it would be unfair to ask him to come back again as a 9-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.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
