It's A Dundeel retires a champion

The big question following the Championships at Royal Randwick was whether or not the connections of It’s A Dundeel would retire the horse or take him to Royal Ascot.

Arrowfield Stud boss John Messara announced the retirement on Monday after his Queen Elizabeth Stakes win at Randwick.

The decision was made after Messara said the connections had seen the best out of the horse and that his future lies at a stud farm.

“He came out and showed he is the best 2000m [horse] in the country on Saturday and we did not need to ask him to show any more,” Messara said.

“Royal Ascot is a meeting where everyone would like to have a runner but in the end he has future is at stud and we want to go this year.”

This means that It’s A Dundeel will not race in arguably the best mile race in the world – the Queen Anne (1609m, Group 1, weight-for-age), which is being held on June 17.

For me the decision is the right one, on Saturday It’s A Dundeel scored his 10th win and his sixth at Group 1 level from 19 starts, taking his prizemoney earnings to nearly $5 million.

His swan song was played out to perfection in front of a stellar crowd of 25,525 fans at Royal Randwick, in the richest race to have ever been held on a Sydney race track.

What I will remember of his last race is him swallowing up Carlton House in the last 200 metres, who was ridden brilliantly by Tommy Berry, and then fighting off a fast finishing Sacred Falls to secure perhaps his finest victory.

James McDonald’s ride was spectacular, holding It’s A Dundeel just off the pace and pouncing once past the rise of the Randwick track. It’s something that the young New Zealand jockey can be proud of for the rest of his career.

By the time the Queen Elizabeth was run and won the punters inside my TAB were shocked, but one punter announced that It’s A Dundeel had finally fulfilled his potential. It highlights the frustrating career that It’s A Dundeel has had thanks to injuries that have plagued his form.

In last year’s edition of the race he was installed as a $1.28 favourite and struggled to find the 2000m. Last year foot abscesses derailed his Cox Plate campaign and I often wonder what may have come of the race had we seen a truly fit It’s A Dundeel.

There is always a difference in opinions when horses are retired. One side of the argument is that the horse was retired early, the other is that a horse has been raced well beyond it’s prime, however in recent times we have seen connections retiring their horses early.

Examples include Pierro, who was retired after a second placing in last year’s Doncaster Mile, and Guelph, the winner of the Thousand Guineas last spring in Melbourne.

Those are two examples that spring to mind of horses that were retired when the time was right, and I’m glad It’s A Dundeel will join them rather than suffering the same fate as champion Hay List.

My one lasting memory of Hay List is of him leading the turn in his last race, only for him to prove to be a shadow of himself and finishing 14 lengths behind the eventual winner Arinosa.

It’s a sad way to remember a horse that won two Group 1s and pushed Black Caviar all the way in some of the champion’s greatest triumphs.

The end could have been so much worse for Hay List, and the connections are lucky that the horse finished the race with no major injuries.

When you factor in all the injury problems that It’s A Dundeel has faced over his career, you can’t argue against retiring him, and I would much rather remember him for a gritty win than finishing second last like I do with Hay List.

In a way I am slightly disappointed that I won’t get to see It’s a Dundeel race again, but I am satisfied that I will remember him finishing on top as a winner. He provided me with some of my favourite racing memories – which includes the only defeat of the wonderful mare Atlantic Jewel.

Thanks for the memories It’s A Dundeel, you were truly a pleasure to watch.