Offlee Wild retired to stud

Offlee Wild, winner of the Suburban Handicap in July at Belmont Park, has been retired from racing.

retirement comes less than a month after Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Darley organization purchased the 5-year-old Wild Again horse to stand as a stallion at its Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. Offlee Wild's racing career had been in doubt since he finished last of five in the Aug. 21 Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap and exited the race with ankle trouble.

Owner Lansdon Robbins said Monday that both of Offlee Wild's front ankles were swollen, a problem that would have required sending the horse to the sidelines indefinitely.

"It was in his best interests to go ahead and retire him," Robbins said. "We could have continued to race him. But it would have required four to six weeks off, and we would have missed the Breeders' Cup because he would have lost all that fitness. He just wouldn't have been ready."

Robbins said Darley owns 100 percent of the colt but that he has breeding rights to the horse.

Robbins purchased Offlee Wild for $325,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2001. A son of the Seattle Slew mare Alvear, Offlee Wild has since earned $976,325 and won four stakes, all graded. Trained by Richard Dutrow Jr., he leaves the races with a career record of 19-6-3-2.

- additional reporting by David Grening