JC / Railbird

Horses Archive

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.”

Posted in Horses on June 23, 2007

Invasor Works a Bullet

Wrapping up his prep for next Saturday’s Suburban Handicap, Invasor breezed five furlongs over Belmont’s main track in :59.2 this morning, in company with stablemate Like Now. The work was the fastest of 23 at the distance. Invasor is on a six-race winning streak, which includes last year’s Suburban, and hasn’t raced since winning the Dubai World Cup in March. So far, it looks like his toughest competition next Saturday will be Met Mile winner Corinthian. Now, that’s a race to go to the track for …

Posted in Horses on June 23, 2007

Remembering Ruffian

With ABC’s Ruffian movie scheduled to air this Saturday, the magnificent filly is very much on racing fans’ minds. Here’s a reminder of what was so spectacular about Ruffian:

Over on Turf Luck, the Quinella Queen ponders the poetry of Ruffian’s past performances, while John at Not to the Swift shows off a ticket he couldn’t bear to crumple.

Posted in Horses on June 8, 2007