Graded stakes winner Ashleyluvssugar retired at age 9

Ashleyluvssugar, a six-time stakes winner on turf in California, has been retired after finishing sixth in the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Trainer Peter Eurton made the announcement on Twitter on Sunday.

Monday, Eurton said the 9-year-old Ashleyluvssugar will be trained for a second career at a retraining facility on the East Coast.

“We’re going to find him a new home and a new lifestyle, so to speak,” Eurton said. “Maybe he do small jumps or dressage. Who knows?

“It was time to retire him.”

Owned by the partnership of Sharon Alesia, Bran Jam Stable, and Joe Ciaglia, Ashleyluvssugar won 10 of 38 starts and earned $1,488,083.

A gelding, Ashleyluvssugar won five graded stakes from March 2015 to May 2017, including the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita in 2015 and 2017. His best finish in a Grade 1 was a fifth behind Highland Reel in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.

Ashleyluvssugar was winless in six starts in 2019, with his best result a third in the Whittingham Stakes. The loss on Saturday was preceded earlier this year by a fourth in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic for California-breds at Santa Anita on Jan. 18.