Slow Down Andy retired; may breed this year

The four-time stakes winner Slow Down Andy has been retired after being diagnosed with a sesamoid injury, trainer Doug O’Neill said on Thursday.

Slow Down Andy, 5, is a potential candidate for stud duty this year, even though the breeding season began last week, O’Neill said.

Slow Down Andy, who was bred and raced by Paul and Zillah Reddam, won 5 of 14 starts and earned $1,276,600 in a three-year career from 2021 to 2023.

A California-bred by Nyquist, Slow Down Andy won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in 2021, the Grade 3 Sunland Derby and Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on turf in 2022, and the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita last October in what turned out to be his final start.

Slow Down Andy was sidelined with an ankle injury following the Awesome Again Stakes, which prevented a start in the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita in November.

Slow Down Andy was in training for a comeback this spring when the injury was diagnosed.

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“He’s retired from racing,” O’Neill said on Thursday. “The hope is that he’ll be a productive stallion. If I had a mare to breed, I’d breed to Slow Down Andy.”

Slow Down Andy won his debut in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita in October 2021.

Aside from his stakes wins, Slow Down Andy ran in several notable races in recent years, including a third-place finish behind Cody’s Wish in the 2022 BC Dirt Mile at Keeneland. Last summer at Del Mar, Slow Down Andy was second in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap and third in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.

Slow Down Andy is out of the Square Eddie mare Edwina E. He is a full-brother to the two-time stakes winner Team Merchants, who also raced for the Reddams and O’Neill.

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