Adelaide retired to Coolmore Australia

Adelaide, a Grade/Group 1 winner in the U.S. and Australia, has been retired from racing and will enter stud during the upcoming Southern Hemisphere breeding season at Coolmore Australia in Jerrys Plains, New South Wales.

A fee for the 4-year-old son of Galileo will be announced at a later date.

Owned by a partnership that includes Coolmore’s Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier, and Michael Tabor, Adelaide finished his on-track career with four wins in nine starts for earnings of $2,412,056. He was trained by Aidan O’Brien for all but his final start, when Chris Waller was the trainer of record.

“He was all class,” O’Brien said. “On fast ground he was a brilliant horse and I don’t think we ever really got to see the best of him. I was very confident of having a big summer with him in Europe this year.”

The globetrotting Adelaide began his career in Ireland, winning his debut race by 2 ½ lengths. He was then sent to France, where he finished second in the Group 2 Prix Hocquart. He returned to Ireland to win the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes before finishing his juvenile campaign in England with a runner-up effort in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Ascot.

Adelaide was sent to the U.S. to begin his 3-year-old season, finishing second by a neck in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby. He rebounded with a win in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park. A month later, he raced again in France, finishing third in the Group 2 Qatar Prix Niel.

The colt finished his sophomore campaign in Australia, winning the Group 1 Cox Plate by a head. He remained in Australia for his final start, an out-of-the-money effort in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes earlier this month.

“It’s been a pleasure to be associated with a horse of this caliber,” Waller said. “He’s a horse with an awesome change of pace and we’ve seen him do some spectacular things in his track work with us. It’s a shame the ground went against him in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes since which he hasn’t been 100 percent.”

Bred in Ireland by the Elletelle Syndicate, Adelaide is the first foal out of the English Group 2-winning Elnadim mare Elletelle, who has two winners from as many runners. He will be the second Cox Plate winner to retire to Coolmore Australia, following So You Think, who won the race in 2009 and 2010.