Wheelaway retired to stud

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stakes-winner Wheelaway has retired from the racetrack to enter stud at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, the farm announced Monday.

The 5-year-old Unbridled horse will be syndicated. His fee has not yet been announced.

After finishing fourth behind Commendable in the 2000 Belmont Stakes, Wheelaway was sidelined with a bone chip in his left ankle. Owners Caesar Kimmel and Philip Solondz sent the horse for surgery to remove the chip, and this summer Wheelaway had been training for a comeback with John Kimmel's stable in Fair Hill, Md.

"He's been there all summer," said Mike McMahon of McMahon Bloodstock. "They trained him back, but they weren't happy with the level he was coming back at, so they made the decision to retire him."

McMahon said the horse is doing well and already has bred two test mares.

Wheelaway, the first stakes-winner for the Damascus mare Cuidado, retires with a career record of 7-2-1-1 and $249,760 in earnings.