Grade 1 Winner Yaupon Retired From Racing
Image:
Description:
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Yaupon heads to the winner's circle after the Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Forego Stakes (G1) winner and Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) hopeful Yaupon has been retired from racing and will stand the 2022 breeding season at Spendthrift Farm.
Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon, shipped to Santa Anita Park from trainer Steve Asmussen's barn in Saratoga Race Course over the weekend, appeared off when cooling out after a routine gallop the morning of Sept. 24, according to Spendthrift stallion sales manager Mark Toothaker. X-rays were immediately taken and reviewed by Dr. Larry Bramlage, who confirmed a sesamoid fracture in the colt's left hind leg.
"We were hoping for a fairtytale ending in the Breeders' Cup but just like Mitole last year, it wasn't meant to be," Toothaker said. "It's unfortunate but he's going to be fine, there's no surgery required, and we're excited to have him (at Spendthrift)."
The Heiligbrodts reached a deal Sept. 2 to stand Yaupon at Spendthrift Farm upon his retirement, where their former runner Mitole also stands.
"(Yaupon is) a horse with a tremendous chance at stud," said Toothaker. "He's been very well received so far."
Yaupon, whom Bill Heiligbrodt called his "best ever" horse "when you combine speed, pedigree, and conformation," retired with six wins from eight career starts and earnings of $703,264. The son of Uncle Mo put on the performance of his career in the Aug. 28 Forego Stakes, where he was savaged by Firenze Fire in deep stretch yet prevailed by a head over that foe at the wire.