Red Bullet retired to stud

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Red Bullet, the 2000 Preakness winner, has been retired, according to trainer Joe Orseno. Red Bullet, 5, bled while finishing seventh as the favorite in last week's Grade 1 Cigar Mile.

Red Bullet was scheduled to van to owner Frank Stronach's Adena Springs Farm in Midway, Ky., over the weekend. He will stand for $30,000, live foal, according to farm manager Dan Hall.

A son of Unbridled-Cargo, by Caro, Red Bullet had a record of 6-2-2 from 14 starts and earned $1,161,920 for Stronach Stable. His greatest achievement was upsetting Ken-tucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus in the 2000 Preakness. Five weeks earlier, Fusaichi Pegasus had handed Red Bullet his first defeat, in the Wood Memorial. Red Bullet did not run in the Derby.

"He meant a lot," said Orseno. "We did some things that were unconventional, passing up the Derby off a second-place finish in the Wood Memorial - and we had every reason to go to the Derby, but we passed it and went into the Preakness. To win a classic was very rewarding, but to do it off a five-week layoff was special. I predicted to everybody that we were going to get the job done because of the way he was doing."

Following the Preakness, Red Bullet suffered from a number of minor physical infirmities that limited him to a total of just eight starts in his 4- and 5-year-old seasons.

"I think as a stallion he's got a great future," Orseno said. "He didn't have a bad tendon or knee or anything that he could pass on to other horses. He's a son of Unbridled that won a classic, so I'm looking forward to seeing his babies run. I'm looking forward to breeding to him myself."

In addition to the Preakness, Red Bullet won the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct and the ungraded Foggy Road Stakes at Delaware. Earlier this year at Gulfstream, he finished second in the Skip Away Handicap and was disqualified from second to fourth in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap.