Grade 1-winning millionaire Dads Caps retired at 6

Dads Caps, a two-time winner of the Grade 1 Carter Handicap, has been retired from racing, owner and breeder Vince Scuderi announced Thursday. Stallion plans for the 6-year-old son of Discreet Cat have not been decided.

“We’ve had a tremendous run with Dads Caps,” Scuderi said in a release. “For four seasons, he took on the best sprinters of his generation, and his record is a testament to his consistency and heart. We could campaign him another season, but we have had a few farms looking into his availability as a stallion, and he has certainly earned that opportunity.”

Dads Caps won 5 of 26 career starts, winning or placing in 14 stakes, and earned more than $1.1 million. He went winless in seven starts this year, most recently finishing ninth in the Tale of the Cat Stakes on Aug. 12 at Saratoga.

The horse sprung an upset in the 2014 Carter Handicap, wiring the field by 1 1/2 lengths and triggering a $23.60 payoff. Grade 1 winner Sahara Sky was second, with other top-level winners Golden Ticket and Strapping Groom farther back. He returned to win the following year's edition by the same margin over Green Gratto, with Grade 1 winners The Big Beast and Palace as also-rans. He finished third in this year's edition behind Salutos Amigos and Calculator, missing the hat trick by just more than 1 1/2 lengths.

Dads Caps is one of just six horses to win two editions of the Carter, first contested in 1895. The others are Audacious (1920-21), Osmand (1928-29), Flying Heels (1930-31), Forego (1974-75), and Lite the Fuse (1995-96).