Staying superstar Stradivarius has been a horse that has given fond memories to many people in the sport over the last seven or so years but today has been retired at the age of eight.
Stradivarius now joins the stallion roster at the National Stud in Newmarket after not recovering properly form a bruised foot with his age ultimately catching up up with him.
The eight year old has been the poster boy for the UK staying division for the last seven seasons landing 10 races in a row including winning a Weatherbys-sponsored £1million bonus after landing the Yorkshire Cup, Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and Lonsdale Cup at York in a single season.
As mentioned, Stradivarius lost his unbeaten record that stretched back to May 2018, when being pipped in a photo finish on Champions Day 2019 in the Long Distance Cup.
He came back in 2020 and had a prep run in the Group One Coronation Cup where he ran to a good standard finishing third and gave him the run he needed to go and win a third straight renewal of the Gold Cup.
After joining the likes of Double Trigger and Yeats after landing the Gold Cup, he headed to Glorious Goodwood seeking a fourth win in the Goodwood Cup, which he went on to win.
He was dropped in trip after that in prep for the Arc, where the race did not suit him and that seemed to really mess him about with him only beating one home in the Long Distance Cup.
Stradivarius, the horse of a lifetime! Enjoy our tribute to the great stayer who's been retired 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ylJ4kx0xIl
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 26, 2022
The mighty veteran came back for another for the Group Three Sagaro Stakes at Ascot and was a superb winner of the event over two miles and having been kept quite since then was looking to give a bold bid in the Gold Cup.
However, it was not to be with him suffering some traffic issues and never really finding his finishing speed that he usually does, eventually finishing fourth behind the smart Subjectivist.
Stradivarius got back to form after that winning back to back races in the Lonsdale Cup and Doncaster Cup, before finishing a narrow second to Trueshan over 2m4f in the Group One Prix du Cadran.
In what many thought would be his last season this term, he returned at York in May when landing a fifth Yorkshire Cup and then when looking to regain his Gold Cup crown, he again suffered traffic issues and had to settle for a fast finishing third.
Seen once more in his career, he went down by a neck to Kyprios in the Goodwood Cup but having not been seen since then, owner Bjorn Nielsen and trainers John & Thady Gosden have made the decision to retire him.
The superstar flat horse won 20 of his 35 starts over seven seasons for racecourse earnings of £3,458,968.
A true great of the sport and we wish him a happy retirement.