Paddy O'Prado retired with fractured sesamoid

Paddy O’Prado, who won the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico, has been retired because of a fractured sesamoid bone in his right front ankle, his trainer, Dale Romans said Monday.

“He broke off the top part of his outside sesamoid,” Romans said on a teleconference.

Romans said the injury was detected after Paddy O’Prado was flown back to Churchill Downs on Sunday and X-rays were taken. Paddy O’Prado returned to Churchill Downs with Shackleford, who won the Preakness Stakes on Saturday for Romans.

Paddy O’Prado began showing signs of lameness in the test barn at Pimlico after the Dixie and had to be vanned back to the stakes barn, where he was residing while at Pimlico. Romans on Sunday morning at Pimlico said he thought the injury was merely a foot bruise.

“We are very disappointed today to see Paddy’s career end so suddenly,” Jerry Crawford, the managing partner of the Donegal Racing syndicate which owns Paddy O’Prado, said in a press release. “This is what is best for Paddy. He will make a full recovery and embark on the next stage of his career.”

Stud plans have not been finalized, though Crawford on the teleconference said his phone had been ringing “quite regularly” on Monday. Crawford said he there were “18 potential suitors” who inquired about Paddy O’Prado for stud duty last year before the decision was made to keep Paddy O’Prado in training for this year.

Paddy O’Prado, a 4-year-old son of El Prado, won 5 times in 14 starts and earned more than $1.7 million. He was purchased as a yearling by Donegal for $105,000.

The Dixie was the first start for Paddy O’Prado since he finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last fall at Churchill Downs.

Though he ran well in the BC Classic and finished third in the Kentucky Derby last year, Paddy O’Prado had his greatest success on turf. He won four graded stakes on turf last year, including the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington. He also won the Virginia Derby, the Colonial Turf Cup, and the Palm Beach Stakes, and was second to Winchester in the Turf Classic. Paddy O’Prado also finished second on Polytrack in last year’s Blue Grass Stakes.

Paddy O'Prado arrives at Pimlico last week for his start in Saturday's Dixie.