Midnight Bisou Retired After Sept. 28 Injury

Champion Midnight Bisou, who exited a Sept. 28 workout at Saratoga Race Course with discomfort in her right front leg, has been retired, according to a release from co-owner Bloom Racing Stable.

Evaluated by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Kentucky, Midnight Bisou was determined to have a sesamoid fracture in her right front fetlock. According to Bramlage, surgery is not required, the release said.

Midnight Bisou has been shipped to WinStar Farm, where she will be turned out. The injury will not affect her broodmare career, her connections wrote.     

As announced before her injury, she will be sold with Elite Sales at The November Sale Nov. 8 at Fasig-Tipton.

Midnight Bisou's trainer, Steve Asmussen, had planned to run her in the Oct. 4 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland prior to a start in the Breeders' Cup there this fall.

"I cannot begin to tell you what this mare has meant to me, my family, and my partners," Jeff Bloom, co-owner and managing partner of Bloom Racing, said in the release. "The places she has taken us and the thrills she has given us are immeasurable. And just to be in her presence is to feel what greatness is all about. Her calm, inquisitive demeanor, her fierce determination in a race is unlike any other horse. She is all class.

"I'm just so grateful I got to be a part of her incredible journey, and I'm extremely excited to watch the next phase of her life, watch her become a mother, and for her babies to hit the track with all of her class and elegance, and continue the Midnight Bisou legacy."

Midnight Bisou was retired with earnings of more than $7.4 million with a record of 13-6-3 from 22 starts. The well-traveled mare raced at 10 tracks and was awarded an Eclipse Award in 2019 as champion older dirt female. Her five top-level wins were the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and the Cotillion Stakes (G1) in 2018, and the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), and Personal Ensign Stakes Presented by Lia Infiniti (G1) in 2019. 

She earned a win and two second-place finishes from three starts this year, running second in this winter's Saudi Cup and this summer's Personal Ensign, with a win in the Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) in between for owners Bloom Racing Stable, Madaket Stables, and Allen Racing.

Bill Spawr trained her for the first six starts of her career through a third-place finish in the 2018 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Thereafter, she was transferred to Asmussen. Madaket Stables also joined as a co-owner at that stage in her 3-year-old season.

"I want to thank trainer Steve Asmussen, assistant trainers Scott Blasi, Darren Fleming, her main exercise rider Angel Garcia, groom Gerardo Morales (Chocolaté), and the entire Asmussen team for the devotion and care they provided each and every single day," Bloom concluded in the release. "I would also like to thank her regular rider, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who shared a very special bond with her, and was aboard for all five grade 1 wins, as well as the other jockeys who were fortunate enough to climb aboard. Finally, a sincere thank you to all of Midnight Bisou's legion of fans who have been extremely loyal with their support and love for our champion throughout her career."