Two-time champion sprinter Roy H retired

Roy H, the champion sprinter of 2017 and 2018, has been retired and will have a second career as a stable pony, trainer Peter Miller said in a statement issued Thursday.

Roy H, 8, was in training in recent weeks when the decision was made to end his racing career. A gelding best known for winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar in 2017 and at Churchill Downs in 2018, Roy H won 10 of 23 starts and earned $3,139,765.

“What can you say about a horse like this who has given us so many thrilling moments?” Miller said in his statement. “He is the embodiment of class, and we will definitely miss seeing him compete. We’ve had him since he was a 2-year-old, so watching him grow and mature into a world champion has been a great gift.”

A seven-time stakes winner, Roy H was plagued by foot ailments at the end of his career. Owned by Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen for most of his career, Roy H won his final start in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita in January 2019.

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By More Than Ready, Roy H was sent to Dubai for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen for sprinters in March of that year, but did not start because of an abscess in a foot. Roy H was put back in training briefly last summer with the hope he could start in the BC Sprint at Santa Anita, but was taken out of training and rested over the winter.

Roy H had three workouts at three furlongs at the San Luis Rey Downs training center earlier this month before his retirement was announced.

Aside from the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Roy H won such stakes as the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in 2017 and 2018 and the Grade 2 True North Stakes at Belmont Park in 2017.