Grade 1 Winner Keen Ice Retired From Racing

Grade 1 winner Keen Ice , who will forever be remembered for his upset victory over Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  in the 2015 Travers Stakes (G1), will miss the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar due to a ankle injury and has been retired.

Co-owner Jerry Crawford of Donegal Racing said the 5-year-old son of Curlin  "banged up his ankle galloping" the other day and that the area was still showing signs of swelling. The bay horse would have had to miss a scheduled breeze Oct. 27 and with the Classic already slated to be his final start, the decision was made to retire him to Calumet Farm.

"The swelling didn't come down yesterday the way we thought it would and he was supposed to breeze tomorrow and ... it throws the timing off," Crawford said. "We had intended to retire him after this race anyway."

Calumet Farm bought into Keen Ice earlier this year. A stud fee has yet to be announced. 

Originally trained by Dale Romans before being transferred to Todd Pletcher last season, Keen Ice was a solid performer as a juvenile and early in his 3-year-old year, placing in four graded stakes heading into the 2015 edition of the Mid-Summer Derby. With all eyes on the first Triple Crown hero in 37 years, Keen Ice pulled off one of the great upsets in recent times, when he surged past American Pharoah in late stretch to hand the eventual Horse of the Year just the second defeat of his career.

NOVAK-CROSBY: Keen Ice Springs Travers Upset on 'Pharoah'

Keen Ice proceeded to lose his next 10 starts, including a third-place finish in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic. Those content to write him off had to reevaluate that decision when he pulled another upset, defeating heavily favored Shaman Ghost in the July 8 Suburban Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park.

"It would have been nice if he had won more races after that, but he wasn't himself later (in 2016)," Crawford said. "He had to be laid off, then he had to come back. I think it's a miracle he came back and did as well as he did, myself. And all of the data suggests he was better at the end of his career then earlier. We're just very proud of him."

Keen Ice was coming into the Breeders' Cup off a runner-up finish in the Oct. 7 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1). Bred by Glencrest Farm out of the Awesome Again  mare Medomak, he retires with three wins from 24 starts and $3,407,245 in earnings.

"Thoroughbred racing needs more durable horses with stamina to succeed in the big contests," Crawford said.  "In Keen Ice we had both. We see nothing but positives for his genetic line."