Invasor Retired
Invasor, working with stablemate Like Now, on Saturday morning. Photo by Adam Coglianese/NYRA.
No! No! No! I haven’t been this disappointed since Afleet Alex was sent to stud. It seems Invasor suffered a fracture of the sesamoid in his right hind leg during this morning’s workout. He’ll be moved to Shadwell Farm, where he’ll stand in 2008. Blood-Horse has the edited press release.
Video: Watch Invasor win the Dubai World Cup, Donn Handicap, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and the Uruguayan Triple Crown, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin talk about his star.
Related: Invasor’s retirement scrambles the early end-of-the-year honors picture considerably. Street Sense, Curlin, and Rags to Riches are the three-year-olds currently in the running for Horse of the Year; Corinthian leads a weak older horse division. (I realize the TBA standings contradict me, but Lava Man and Molengao are proven only in California.) Who will emerge in late summer and fall? And without Invasor, what does the Breeders’ Cup Classic field look like? Might this open the way for Rags to Riches to face males again? (If she were to win the Classic, imagine the publicity!) Much as we’ll all miss the reigning Horse of the Year, his absence certainly creates an interesting dynamic for the second half of the year.
Haskin gets it right about what was so great about Invasor: “He wasn’t the fastest horse; he wasn’t the most powerful horse; and he didn’t blow you away with an explosive move. But he knew how to beat you.”
