Santa Anita: Qaraaba retired, won Robert Frankel Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Qaraaba, winner of the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes on turf last December, has been retired and will be bred this spring, trainer Simon Callaghan said.

Owned by Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor, Qaraaba won 7 of 15 starts and $171,119. Imported from England last fall, Qaraaba, a 6-year-old mare by Shamardal, won both of her starts in the United States, beginning with an optional claimer at Betfair Hollywood Park last November.

Qaraaba was taken out of training in February with a suspensory injury that was more severe than originally thought, Callaghan said.

“There was a lot of swelling in it,” Callaghan said. “When the swelling went down, she didn’t look as good as we hoped. There was a pretty good lesion in there.

“The frustrating thing is I thought she was as good of a filly as I’d trained.”