City Zip retired to New York farm

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Grade 1 winner City Zip has been purchased for stud duty by Gus Schoenborn and partners, who have retired the 3-year-old Carson City colt from racing.

City Zip, who finished ninth in the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park, will stand at Schoenborn's Contemporary Stallions in Coxsackie, N.Y. No stud fee has been set for the colt, who will be syndicated.

City Zip retires from trainer Linda Rice's barn with a lifetime record of nine wins from 23 starts, including a victory in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes last year, in which he beat eventual juvenile champion Macho Uno.

He followed his Hopeful win with a narrow first-place finish over Burning Roma in the Grade 1 Futurity, but was disqualified and placed second in that race.

In addition to the Hopeful, City Zip won five other graded races: the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, Grade 2 Sanford and Grade 3 Tremont Stakes at age 2, and the Grade 2 Amsterdam and Grade 3 Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes at 3.

Asked if she was disappointed that City Zip would not race at 4, Rice said, "Frankly, it's hard to be disappointed in City Zip after everything he's accomplished."

Of his purchase, Schoenborn said, "City Zip made history in New York, so it's only fitting that he should retire here." He noted that the colt was one of four horses to sweep the Hopeful, Saratoga Special, and Sanford, the three juvenile races at Saratoga which date back to the early 1900's.

Said Rice, "I'm very happy that he will be standing in New York, because I believe he will have more of a following here."

Campaigned by the partnership of Carl Bowling, Becky Thomas, Lewis Lakin, and Charles Thompson, City Zip earned $818,225 in his two-year career.

Frank Stronach's Adena Springs bred City Zip, who is the best runner to date for the stakes-winning Relaunch mare Baby Zip.

- additional reporting by Karen M. Johnson