Hero's Tribute retired to stud

Hero's Tribute, a Grade 2 winner, has retired from racing and will stand the 2005 breeding season at Doug Arnold's Buck Pond Farm in Versailles, Ky. His fee will be $5,000.

Buck Pond has bought an undisclosed interest in Hero's Tribute, a

6-year-old son of Sea Hero.

Trained by John Ward, Hero's Tribute won stakes at ages 3, 4, and 5, winning the Grade 2 Peter Pan in 2001, the Black Tie Affair Handicap in 2002, and the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap in 2003.

Hero's Tribute made two starts this season, finishing eighth in a Keeneland allowance in April and fourth in a Churchill allowance in May. He retires with a record of 27-8-3-4 and $862,950 in earnings.