Shancelot Retired With Tendon Injury

Shancelot, a graded stakes winner who finished second to champion Mitole  in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita Park, has been retired due to a tendon injury, trainer Steve Asmussen said.

The 5-year-old Shanghai Bobby horse had been training this winter at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, where he last worked five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 Jan. 4. Asmussen, who took over the training of Shancelot last year, had hoped to run him in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint, a $1.5 million race on the undercard of the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 20 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack.

"Tremendous horse, extremely disappointing, but the right thing to do," Asmussen said of Shancelot's retirement, which was first reported by Daily Racing Form.

The Hall of Fame trainer said he had no knowledge of any impending stud plans.

Shancelot retires with a record 3-2-1 record from six starts and earnings of $624,300, all of which came for his prior trainer, Jorge Navarro. Asmussen began training him last year after Navarro and fellow trainer Jason Servis were indicted on charges of using and distributing misbranded performance-enhancing drugs.

The speedy Shancelot raced for Gelfenstein Farm and Al and Michelle Crawford for most of his career before making his final start solely for Crawford Farms Racing in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, when he led Mitole for five furlongs before losing by 1 1/4 lengths. That race followed earlier stakes efforts that included a 12 1/2-length romp in the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course, a third there in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes (G1), and a second in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G1).

Bred in Kentucky by Charles Muth and Patrick Murphy, Shancelot is one of four black-type runners out of the stakes-winning Is It True mare True Kiss. The dam is a half sister to Silver Max, a multiple graded stakes winner who defeated Wise Dan in the off-the-grass Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1) over Polytrack at Keeneland in 2013.

Kings Equine purchased Shancelot for $50,000 from Taylor Made Sales Agency's consignment to The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2017. Kings Equine then consigned the colt to the 2018 Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where Juan Pacanins, agent, bought him for $245,000.

Discussing one of his other top horses, Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, Asmussen said tentative plans call for him to run in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park Feb. 15. The Southwest is 1 1/16 miles and precedes the $1 million Rebel Stakes also at that distance Mar. 13 and the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles April 10. 

Running in Arkansas is desirable, Asmussen said, due to "the 3-year-old series at Oaklawn being worth what it is, pace being as effective as it is at Oaklawn, and Jackie's Warrior being fast as hell."

The Maclean's Music  colt won last year's Champagne Stakes (G1), Runhappy Hopeful Stakes (G1), and Saratoga Special Stakes Presented by Miller Lite (G2) as a 2-year-old. He lost just once last year, finishing fourth in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) at Keeneland after chasing fast fractions.

He has been breezing at Fair Grounds and will likely remain training there to take advantage of New Orleans' historically warmer weather than in Arkansas, Asmussen said.