Gufo Retired, on the Market as Stallion Prospect

Three-time grade 1 winner and multimillionaire turf star Gufo  has been retired.

The 6-year-old son of Declaration of War  will arrive April 5 at WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky., where he will be shown as a stallion prospect, according to trainer Christophe Clement and first reported by Thoroughbred Daily News.

"He had a setback in March and could have come back in the later half of the year, but he is 6 and Mr. Cainelli believed he's done enough," said Clement. "He is a terrific story and been a great addition to our stable the last four years. He is a good-looking horse and will be hard to replace."

Gufo is the first and only racehorse owned by retired Texas physician Dr. Stephen Cainelli, who also bred the horse with his friend and colleague Dr. John Little. After Little retired as an anesthesiologist, he moved from San Angelo, Texas, to Lexington to start Cave Brook Farm. Cainelli retired soon afterward and proposed they breed a horse together. Cainelli covered the stud fee and Little provided the mare. They bred the Petionville mare Floy, who had already produced then-graded-placed stakes winner Hogy , to Declaration of War.

Eventually, Little sold his half of Gufo to Cainelli, who didn't have to wait long to discover his horse had talent. He got glowing reports from Rey Hernandez, who broke Gufo at T.K. Stables near Lexington and from the late Kenneth LeJeune, who helped condition the horse during the winter at his training center near Ocala, Fla.

"Kenneth told me Gufo was the best horse he had that year and perhaps the best in a dozen years," recalled Cainelli. "Miguel Clement went to see him and agreed." Miguel Clement is the son and assistant to Christophe Clement.

Gufo won his second career start in December of his juvenile year. By his second start at 3, he became a black-type stakes winner and followed with his first graded stakes victory. Over his next 16 races, Gufo finished off the board only three times and scored grade 1 wins at 3, 4, and 5. He won the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) at 3 and won the Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) twice in 2021-22. Out of 21 starts, he compiled a 9-4-5 record and earned $2,176,530.

"I was hoping we could have one more year but he really doesn't have any more to prove," Cainelli said. Given his remarkable luck with Gufo so far, he added that it doesn't extend to taking a chance in the stallion business.

"I am not a horse person, so the best thing is for the people who know what they are doing take care of him," he said.

Clemente said he believes being a son of Declaration of War should make Gufo an attractive prospect.

"Declaration of War did remarkably well after he was sent to Japan, so he should be of considerable interest," he said. "We have been very lucky with Declaration of War. We had grade 1 winner Decorated Invader  and most recently have Big Invasion , who is a very nice horse."

Big Invasion is a six-times stakes winner who won the Quick Call Stakes (G3T) last year and most recently won the Silks Run Stakes March 18 at Gulfstream Park.

"One of his biggest selling points is he won a grade 1 three years in a row," Clement said. "How many horses can claim that?"