Champ Pegasus retired to Legacy Ranch

Grade 1 winner Champ Pegasus has been retired from racing and will stand the 2014 breeding season at Legacy Ranch in Clements, Calif.

The 7-year-old son of Fusaichi Pegasus was a prominent member of the West Coast’s turf division during his racing career, with wins in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch and the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap in 2010, and in the Grade 2 San Luis Obispo in 2011. He also finished second to Dangerous Midge in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs.

After finishing second to eventual champion Acclamation in the 2011 Clement L. Hirsch, Champ Pegasus became hampered by nagging injuries and never raced again. He retired with five wins from 14 career starts for earnings of $1,052,520.

Homebred in Kentucky by Diamond A Racing Corp. and Arturo Vargas, Champ Pegasus was trained by Richard Mandella.

Champ Pegasus was the first foal out the Argentine champion Salt Champ, by Salt Lake, who is the dam of three winners from five foals to race. Salt Champ was also a Grade 1 winner in the U.S., trained by Mandella during her lone Northern Hemisphere start.

Champ Pegasus joins Grade 2 winner and freshman sire Papa Clem on the Legacy Ranch stallion roster. Papa Clem was represented by his first winner at stud on Aug. 1 at the Sonoma County Fair in Northern California.