Mshawish injured, to be retired to stud

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mshawish, a Grade 1 winner on both turf and dirt, suffered an injury to the suspensory ligament of his left foreleg and will be retired from racing, his connections announced Friday.

Mshawish, who won the Grade 1 Donn Handicap in February at Gulfstream Park before finishing sixth in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March, was being pointed to next Saturday’s $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

The injury was diagnosed Friday morning after he showed signs of being sore when he came out of his Belmont Park stall to train, according to Bradley Weisbord, the U.S. adviser to Mshawish’s owner, Sheikh Joann Al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing.

With Mshawish scheduled to be retired at year’s end, he would not make it back in time to run in any significant races.

“He’s such an important stallion prospect to our partnership as well as the breed, we are going to most likely retire him,” Weisbord said. “We could entertain a Southern Hemisphere deal with the timing of the injury starting in July, but right now, we want to do all our diagnostics and get a couple of opinions.”

Mshawish will stand at stud in the U.S. at Taylor Made. Al Shaqab will retain a 50 percent interest in the son of Medaglia d’Oro, while the remaining 50 percent has been syndicated.

Mshawish began his career in France. He won 3 of 11 races for trainer Mikel Delzangles, including the Group 2 Zabeel Mile in Dubai.

Mshawish was transferred to trainer Todd Pletcher in the spring of 2014. In 2015, he won the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap and the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale. He tried dirt last fall, running a close fourth in the Cigar Mile before winning the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope and Grade 1 Donn at Gulfstream. He finished sixth, beaten 5 3/4 lengths by California Chrome, in the Dubai World Cup.

“The horse has been as consistent a top performer as I’ve ever been around,” Weisbord said. “He’s had six or seven 100-plus Beyer Figures in a row, winning Grade 1’s on both turf and dirt, winning stakes from seven furlongs to a mile and an eighth. It’s a sad day, but it’s hard to be sad with what he’s done.”

Mshawish retires with a record of 8-2-3 from 24 starts and career earnings of $2,421,351.

Pletcher has 3 for Met Mile

Trainer Todd Pletcher may have lost one bullet for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, but he still has three bullets in the chamber to fire.

On Friday, the trio of Stanford, Blofeld, and Anchor Down each put in a workout for the Met Mile.

Stanford, the Charles Town Classic winner, and Blofeld, who beat Stanford in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap, worked four furlongs in 50.36 seconds over the training track. The best part of the move was the gallop-out, when the pair went out five furlongs in 1:02.57, six furlongs in 1:14.15, and Stanford kept going through seven furlongs in 1:28.65.

“Both horses are in good form,” Pletcher said.

Anchor Down, the winner of the Westchester on April 30, worked a half-mile in 49.65 seconds by himself, and he, too, galloped out very well, going five furlongs ion 1:02.42, six furlongs in 1:14.44, and seven-eighths in 1:28.39.

“Horse certainly appears to be in career form,” Pletcher said. “Came out of the Westchester and maintained his form or arguably even trained more impressively since then.”