Grade 1 Winner Cupid Retired From Racing
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Photo: Zoe Metz/Santa Anita Park Photo
Cupid training at Santa Anita Park Oct. 29 ahead of the Breeders' Cup
Two days after his last-place run in the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Coolmore's Cupid has been retired from racing, trainer Bob Baffert said Nov. 5 at Del Mar.
A grade 1 winner and earner of more than $1.7 million, the gray son of Tapit never really got involved in the Nov. 3 Dirt Mile after a troubled start, but earned his top-level victory earlier in the year with a 3 1/4-length score in the May 27 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1).
BALAN: Cupid Returns From Layoff to Win Gold Cup
Cupid came back off a nearly three-month layoff to win the Harry F. Brubaker Stakes at Del Mar Aug. 23, but finished a dull fourth in the Awesome Again Stakes (G1) Sept. 30 in his final start before the Breeders' Cup, and Baffert opted to put him in the Dirt Mile instead of the Classic (G1).
During his 3-year-old season in 2016, he won a trio of grade 2 events—the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, the Indiana Derby (G2) at Indiana Grand, and the West Virginia Derby (G2) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort. His six wins from 13 starts came at five different racetracks. The only track he won two races at was Santa Anita Park, where he broke his maiden in February of 2016.
Cupid will enter stud for the 2018 breeding season at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky, the farm announced Oct. 26. A fee has not yet been set.
MITCHELL: Cupid to Stand at Ashford Stud
"Cupid has all the credentials you look for in a sire," said Charlie O'Connor, Coolmore's director of sales. "He's a grade 1 winner by Tapit, from one of the most commercial families in the stud book and he has the looks to match. We can't wait to get him to the farm, so breeders can come by and see him. I'm sure they won't be disappointed."