Oprah Winney retired

Oprah Winney, a Grade 2 winner, has been retired from racing and will be bred to Ghostzapper this year, according to Hidden Brook Farm in Paris, Ky., where the mare will board.

Plans call for her to be sold as a broodmare in November.

Bred in New York by Gatsas Thoroughbreds, Oprah Winney started off in the stable of her breeders, who sold her at 2 before she made her first start in a $20,000 private deal with Lou and Barb DiFrancesco, John and Mario Norselli, and Chris Buonaugurio. That partnership sold her privately for $175,000 after she ran second in her first two starts, at Saratoga and Finger Lakes. The buyers - the partnership of Michael Dubb, Sanford Goldfarb, and the Bunch of Characters Stables - campaigned her for the rest of her career and still own her.

A 5-year-old Royal Academy-Mere Presence mare, Oprah Winney retires with 7 victories, including 7 stakes, from 18 career starts. She earned $593,989. Her most notable score came in the 2007 Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel, her first graded win. In her last race, on Feb. 16, Oprah Winney was attempting to take that race's 2008 edition but finished last of eight.