Grade 2 winner Gantry retired

Gantry, who was a powerful addition to the Fair Grounds sprint ranks following his 2011 private purchase out of New York, has been retired, according to trainer Ron Faucheux. Plans for the popular and personable 8-year-old gelding are being determined. Gantry won seven stakes for the Louisiana-based operation of Brittlyn Stable.

“We purchased him because we wanted to win the Thanksgiving Handicap at Fair Grounds, and we were able to accomplish that the first time we ran him,” Faucheux said last Friday. “So, he was a total success. From there, everything else, as we say in New Orleans, was lagniappe.”

Gantry ended up sweeping the Fair Grounds sprint series in 2011-12 and won a second Thanksgiving Handicap in 2013. In between, he took his connections to the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Gantry finished 11th after trouble, 8 3/4 lengths behind the winner, Trinniberg. Two starts prior, Gantry dominated the Grade 2 Smile Sprint, a Win and You’re In automatic qualifier for the BC Sprint.

“I’d been training a short period of time at that point, and to have a really nice horse, it meant the world to us,” said Faucheux, 32.

Gantry was purchased following an Oct. 23, 2011, win in an optional $35,000 claiming race at Belmont Park. He retires with a record of 11 wins from 32 starts for earnings of $855,401. Gantry last raced Sept. 12, finishing fifth in an optional $25,000 claiming race at Louisiana Downs.

“It’s just that time,” Faucheux said of the decision to retire Gantry. “He’s had a really good career.”

Now, Brittlyn and Faucheux are working to determine the right retirement plan for Gantry.

“We’ve been in contact with Old Friends, and that’s a possibility right now,” Faucheux said. “I still have him at the barn. He’s kind of like the barn pet right now. We’re trying to figure it out, trying to make sure he goes to a good home. He’s a very playful horse, kind, and his favorite food is watermelon. He’s just a really neat horse, probably the neatest horse I’ve been around.”