Exaggerator retired to stand at WinStar Farm

Exaggerator, the winner of the Preakness Stakes and the only 3-year-old male to win three Grade 1 races this year, was officially retired on Monday and will stand at stud beginning next year at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., it was announced by WinStar.

The announcement was not a surprise, as Exaggerator had been taken out of training two weeks ago following a disappointing performance in the Pennsylvania Derby and had been taken to WinStar, which had taken over control of Exaggerator’s career.

Exaggerator, a son of Curlin out of the Vindication mare Dawn Raid, also won the Santa Anita Derby and Haskell Invitational at Monmouth this year. He also finished second in the Kentucky Derby to Nyquist but was 11th in the Belmont Stakes. The Haskell was his last victory. He subsequently was 11th in the Travers Stakes and seventh in the Pennsylvania Derby.

Last year at age 2, Exaggerator won the Saratoga Special and the Delta Jackpot.

Exaggerator retires with six wins in 15 starts and earnings of $3,581,120. His five stakes wins, all graded stakes, came at five different racetracks.

Exaggerator was purchased as a yearling by trainer Keith Desormeaux for Matt Bryan’s Big Chief Racing for $110,000. Bryan subsequently took on several partners, including Rocker O Ranch and Head of Plains Partners. Desormeaux trained Exaggerator, and his brother, Kent, was his regular rider.

“We could not be more excited to add another classic winner of the caliber of Exaggerator to the WinStar stallion roster,” Elliott Walden, WinStar’s president and chief executive, said in a press release. “He is a sound horse that passes all physical exams, but as the only 3-year-old to test all the Triple Crown races and summer classics, he’s a horse that is asking us for a rest. The fact he remains sound after 15 big-time starts in the last 16 months is a testament to his ability, consistency, fortitude, and class. He is an extreme racehorse – a tough, durable throwback to the old days, like his sire, Curlin.”

A stud fee has yet to be announced.

WinStar also campaigned Belmont Stakes winner Creator, who was retired last week and sold to the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders’ Association.

Nyquist will stand at Darley America following his final start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. As a result, none of the Triple Crown race winners from this year will race at age 4.