retirement

Georges Rimaud, the director of the Aga Khan Studs in France for a quarter-century, will retire at the end of 2024. He will be succeeded by Pierre Gasnier, who has assisted Rimaud for the past two years. Trained at the Irish National Stud in 1980, Rimaud worked at Spendthrift Farm and later managed Hurricane Hall--both in Kentucky--and also managed Virginia's Audley Farm. Named manager of Haras d'Etreham in 1991, he joined the Aga Khan Studs in June of 2000. Since then, horses carrying His Highness The Aga Khan's distinctive silks...

Jim Reilly, a master farrier, has retired after 52 years in the position. From Clonsilla in Dublin, he followed his father's career path. Reilly has been shoeing horses for trainer Jim Bolger since 1972. In 2015, he was awarded the Ancillary Services Award at the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards. Bolger said, "Jim Reilly shod the first horse for me in 1972 and since then had shod 56 Group 1 winners and 12 Classic winners including two world champions--St Jovite and New Approach (Ire). He also shod two champion...

Multiple Classic-winning trainer Pascal Bary has announced his retirement after 44 years in the French training ranks. The Chantilly trainer saddled the winner of the Prix du Jockey Club on six occasions, starting with Celtic Arms (Fr) in 1994 and most recently with Study Of Man (Ire) in 2018. Over the years, Bary, 71, has been associated with a stream of great equine names, most notably for the Niarchos family, for whom he won two further Jockey Clubs with the half-brothers Dream Well (Fr) and Sulamani (Ire), and the Prix...

At the start of each season the late Sir Henry Cecil would buy a large notebook and divide its final pages into squares, "like a crossword puzzle," to be filled in, one by one, when he trained a winner. Group wins were inked-in in colour. Each victory would send him to the trainers' championship table in the Racing Post, to see whether he had moved up, or further "in front of Michael Stoute, or any nearer to John Gosden." With Sir Michael Stoute's last turf runner, at Nottingham last week,...

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...