Popular gelding Frazil retired

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Frazil, a 10-year-old gelding who became a fan favorite racing mostly in the claiming ranks on the New York Racing Association circuit, has been retired.

Frazil finished seventh of nine in a $12,500 claiming race at Aqueduct on Wednesday and came out of the race “pretty sore,” said Michael Oliveto, managing partner of Hibiscus Stables, which owns Frazil with trainer Steve Klesaris.

“We just all looked at each other and realized the proper thing to do with this horse is call it a career,” Oliveto said.

Oliveto said he and Klesaris have been inundated with people interested in housing Frazil in retirement. For now, he remains with Klesaris at Belmont until a decision is made on where he will go.

“He’s such a fan favorite, so many people love him, I’d like to somehow work out a situation where we could get him back to the racetrack so people could say hi to him,” said Oliveto, who was hoping to retire Frazil somewhere near Saratoga.

Frazil, a gelding by The Cliff’s Edge, had a record of 21-14-6 from 70 starts and earned $616,006. He spent most of his career in the barn of trainer Linda Rice, who also was listed as owner for many races and saddled Frazil to victory in the 2011 Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct.