Past connections claim Wake Forest to retire him

The connections who won a Grade 1 race with Wake Forest in 2016 claimed the horse back on Saturday for $8,000 at Gulfstream Park West to retire him. He will be sent to Old Friends, a retirement facility in Lexington, Ky.

Owner Michael Dubb said he was alerted by a friend that Wake Forest was in for $8,000 claiming at Gulfstream Park West. Wake Forest had won the Grade 1 Man o’ War for Dubb and partners Sol Kumin and Michael Caruso in 2016. The horse, owned by Randy Hill and trained by Danny Gargan, finished ninth of 11 on Saturday.

Dubb said he had trainer Jorge Abreu drop the claim slip and he won a two-way shake to get him.

“It seemed the right thing to do for such a classy horse,” Dubb said. “I never thought I’d see the horse in for $8,000. Once you’re in for $8,000 claiming territory, you just don’t know what happens.”

Dubb and his partners originally bought Wake Forest from the German-based trainer Andreas Wohler following the horse’s sixth-place finish in the 2015 Arlington Million. After getting beat a head in the Grade 2 Pan American in his first start for his new connections and trainer Chad Brown, Wake Forest won the Grade 1, $400,000 Man o’ War at Belmont. He would place in three other Grade 1 races that year.

His only other win for Dubb and partners was the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream in March 2017. In 13 starts for Dubb and partners, Wake Forest earned $619,025.

Last summer, Wake Forest was offered at the Fasig Tipton July selected horses of racing age sale and was purchased for $90,000 by Hill and turned over to Gargan. The horse ran three times in New York – running for claiming tags of $40,000 and $25,000 – before being dropped in for $8,000 last Saturday.

“We certainly thought he had more racing in him, just not at the level we were looking for and certainly not at this [$8,000 claiming] level,” Dubb said. “When we put him in the sale we thought somebody might bid on him as a stallion; we really didn’t know.”

Wake Forest, an 8-year-old son of Sir Percy, retires with a record of 8-3-4 from 28 starts and earnings of $951,745.