Effinex retired to Questroyal North

Effinex, a Grade 1 winner and the third-richest New York-bred earner of all-time, has been retired and will stand stud at Barry Ostrager’s Questroyal Stud North in Stillwater, N.Y., it was announced Tuesday.

Effinex, a son of Mineshaft owned by the Tri-Bone Stables managed by Russell Cohen, won 9 races from 28 career starts and earned $3,312,950. Only dual classic winner Funny Cide ($3,529,412) and the Japanese-based A Shin Forward ($3,421,360) earned more among New York-breds.

Effinex won two runnings of the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont Park and captured the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in 2015. That victory came four weeks after he finished second to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.

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This year, in addition to winning the Suburban, Effinex also won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. He finished second to Hoppertunity in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and then went off form, finishing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic behind Arrogate and sixth in last week’s Clark Handicap to Gun Runner.

Cohen said he had offers from several farms in and out of the U.S., but decided to keep him in New York.

“He’s going to stand here in New York where I can go see him when I want to,” Cohen said. “He owes me nothing. I owe him everything. It was such a difficult decision because he’s so freaking sound that if I gave him a couple of months off he’d come back and do great.”

At Questroyal, the soon-to-be 6-year-old Effinex will join a stallion cast that includes Boys At Tosconova, Courageous Cat, Golden Ticket, and Majestic City.

“What’s not to like?” said Mike Brown, farm manager for Questroyal North. “He danced every dance, he’s a classic dirt horse that earned more than $3 million. Russell says he’s physically imposing and I think the breeders should love his physical. He’s a top-notch horse that fills a niche we don’t have here.”

Effinex had three trainers, but Jimmy Jerkens took over his training in the summer of 2014 and had him for his last 21 starts, winning six.

“The horse was fantastic,” Jerkens said. “He did far for more for me than I ever thought possible and I’ll never forget him.”