Graded stakes winner Acclimate retires to become event horse
Acclimate, a former maiden claimer who won four graded stakes on turf and was unplaced in two runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, has been retired and will be retrained for a second career as an event horse.
“He had a little issue,” trainer Phil D’Amato said on Friday. “He’s long in the tooth and he’s done a lot for us.
“At this stage, we’d have to give him a couple of months. It’s not worth doing that age-wise.”
An 8-year-old gelding, Acclimate won 8 of 31 starts and earned $763,372, all for the family of the late Bud Johnston, Timmy Time Racing and Ken Tevelde. Acclimate won his final start, the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita in March, and worked at least until mid-April.
In 2021, Acclimate won the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes and was last of 14 in the BC Turf at Del Mar last November. Acclimate was ninth in the 2019 BC Turf at Santa Anita.
Those races are a far cry from the start of his career when Acclimate won a $20,000 claiming race for maidens at a mile at Los Alamitos in September 2018 when trained by Kenny Black. Acclimate was transferred to D’Amato the following month.
Acclimate’s other graded stakes wins were the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano and Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap in 2019.
D’Amato said on Friday that Acclimate remains with his stable at Santa Anita and will begin training as an event horse later this year.