Roses in May, 5, retired after tearing a tendon

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Roses in May, who won the $6 million Dubai World Cup in March, has been retired from racing due to a tendon tear in his left foreleg, his connections said Friday.

Trainer Dale Romans said that Roses in May came out of his latest work, a six-furlong move in 1:14.95 on Aug. 11, with the injury. Romans and owner Ken Ramsey had been pointing Roses in May, a 5-year-old, to a fall campaign that would have included the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Japan Cup Dirt.

Earlier this year, Ramsey sold the breeding rights to Japanese interests, though he hasn't divulged who those interests are. It's unclear when Roses in May would leave for Japan.

"It's disappointing, but I'm not going to let it get me down because he's been so good to me," Romans said. "He won over $5 million; he doesn't owe me anything. We want to do right by him and won't try to press on. He's not in any pain. It's the kind of thing where if we went on it could get worse with the potential of being bad."

Ramsey, the Eclipse Award-winning owner of last year, was very emotional in discussing Roses in May.

"He's the best-looking horse I ever owned," Ramsey said. "It was the biggest thrill I had in horse racing when I led that horse into the winner's circle in Dubai. He's something special. I'm sorry we can't fulfill all the races we had planned for him. We thought we had a horse we could win the Breeder's Cup with."

, a son of Devil His Due, retires with a record of 8-4-0 from 13 starts and earnings of $5,490,187. It wasn't until his 4-year-old year that Roses in May began to shine. He won five consecutive races, including the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap, before finishing second to Ghostzapper in the Breeders' Cup Classic. His other stakes wins included the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap and the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic.

He finished second to Saint Liam in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap before wining the Dubai World Cup by three lengths.

"Dale Romans has done a masterful job of maintaining this horse," Ramsey said. "This injury in no way should be played up as a knock on the Dubai World Cup. He came back good; he trained good."

Roses in May joins defending Horse of the Year Ghostzapper and Pimlico Special winner Eddington as handicap stars retired this year due to injury.