Keen Ice will stand at Calumet Farm after racing career ends

Grade 1 winner Keen Ice will retire to Calumet Farm at the end of this racing season, the farm announced on Sunday.

Keen Ice, who is best known for defeating Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 Travers Stakes, is expected to start in this Saturday’s $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

"We are excited to have Keen Ice headed to legendary Calumet Farm," said Jerry Crawford, who campaigns Keen Ice in the banner of his Donegal Racing partnership. "We are equally excited that our agreement allows Keen Ice to race through 2017. Racing needs more horses that will stay on the track before retiring to the breeding shed and Calumet should be saluted for making that happen."

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Keen Ice marks an important acquisition for the rapidly bourgeoning stallion roster at Calumet Farm. The historic property came under the control of Brad Kelley in 2012, and he has steadily built its stallion operation since. The farm adds five new stallions to its diverse roster for 2017, bringing the total number to 19. Keen Ice is not only another accomplished dirt runner joining a roster dominated by turf runners and sires; he is a son of rising classic sire Curlin.

The Travers is Keen Ice’s only stakes victory to date, but he has placed in six other stakes, including a third in the 2015 Belmont Stakes and a second in that summer’s Haskell, both behind American Pharoah. He finished third behind California Chrome and Arrogate – the two favorites for the Pegasus Cup – in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, and then was second in the Harlan’s Holiday Stakes, his local prep for the world’s richest race.