Ghostzapper retired

[arniesarmy]

I thought this would be of interest, especially since Mazeltrick mentioned him in his Sunday thread.


NEW YORK (AP) — Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Year who was brilliant in winning the Metropolitan Handicap two weeks ago, was retired Monday after the discovery of a hairline fracture of his left front ankle.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
The minor injury was detected after Ghostzapper’s 6¼-length victory in the only race of his 5-year-old campaign.<o></o>

“He went out the right way, in a good way,” Hall of Famer trainer Bobby Frankel said Monday. “He did run that one good race this year and if anything, it gave him more respect.”<o></o>

Ghostzapper, who won Horse of the Year honors over Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, will stand at Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs near Versailles, Ky.<o></o>

Frankel said the injury was not detected by X-rays, but a nuclear scan found a “hot spot” around Ghostzapper’s sesamoid, two small bones located above and at the back of the ankle.<o></o>

“At least he’s going home in one piece,” Frankel said. “They didn’t have to cart him off.”<o></o>

Ghostzapper, a son of Awesome Again, retires with nine victories in 11 starts and earnings of $3,446,120. Last year he was unbeaten in all four of his races.<o></o>

One of thoroughbred racing’s most versatile champions, Ghostzapper dominated in sprints, middle distances and at 1¼ miles. Among his victories were the Vosburgh Stakes at 6½ furlongs, the Woodward Stakes and the Iselin Handicap at 1 1/8 miles and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1¼ miles.<o></o>

“He handled any kind of racetrack, and you couldn’t take a race away from him,” Frankel said. “If they wanted to go too fast, he could come from last. If they were going slow, he’d go right to the lead. How do you beat a horse like that?”<o></o>

 

[mazeltrick]

arnie,
thanks for posting. this shows just how difficult it is to market horseracing to the public- the stars come and go so quickly and with the economics heavily skewed toward breeding, not racing. kudos to frank stronach for even trying to race ghostzapper at 5, at least we got to see one last flash of his brilliance before hitting the breeding shed. love him or hate him, at least stronach is a sporting owner who likes to see his horses race. i love bobby frankel as a trainer, but he whines about weights, campaigns his horses a little too cautiously and we just don't get to see the stars of our sport (he trains so many wonderfully bred, athletic horses for juddmonte farms, the amermans, edmund gann, michael bello, stronach, et. al) fight for more than a fleeting season or two. i believe the industry has to start marketing the jockeys, owners, and trainers (particularly the jockeys) because they are around for decades and are one constant in the game, but that's another post for another thread....

i hope tim ritchey and afleet alex's owners keep to their word and campaign this horse again next year if he's sound and resist the temptation of the millions at the breeding shed. unlike many classic winners of recent vintage, 'alex does appear to be a sound horse who may have another 10 races left in his legs.

well, farewell to ghostzapper, who dazzled us for two and a half seasons, although only with infrequent and awe-inspiring performances. he was the most brilliant horse i have seen since, well, since mazel trick, who ran so freakishly fast and with such reckless abandon that he could only run thrice here in the US (1:19 4/5ths winning the 7 furlong G2 Triple Bend and 1:40 3/5ths winning the 1 1/16M G3 San Diego H, 1:41 2/5ths winning the Laz Barrerra-G3).

can't wait to see the stud fee on 'zapper- $100k to start would be my guess for the horse of the year....

 

[arniesarmy]

Mazeltrick--

I'm not a novice to horse racing, but have just owned a few harness horses. Why can't a horse do both, breed and race. We humans manage to do it, although not as often as most of us would like. Can't these horses train and hit the breeding shed as well? Apparently not.

 

[joelatti]

TOOOOOOO Much risk and not enough reward to race and breed....bottom line....BUT GIVE CREDIT TO STRONACH!!!!! He has a set of BALLS to race him at 5....in this day and age its almost unheard of!!!!!arty:

 

[t3a]

i hope tim ritchey and afleet alex's owners keep to their word and campaign this horse again next year if he's sound and resist the temptation of the millions at the breeding shed. unlike many classic winners of recent vintage, 'alex does appear to be a sound horse who may have another 10 races left in his legs.

I hope soemone else will take notice of how Ritchey has trained him, with all the long gallops, it seems like a lot of trainers got the Lucas syndrome and burn their prospects out just reaching for one of the Triple Crown races

 

[sammythesage]

Oh and GZ retired.....wanna a sure thing....bet NEW drug testing shows up w/in a month...and the trainer got wind of it coming down the pike.......lock in those breeding profits now!!!!

 

[mazeltrick]

arnie,

it's extremely uncommon (dont' know if it's ever been done) for horses to go through a breeding season and train at the same time. horses have, however, spent a season in the shed and then return to racing. i've only dabbled in the ownership part of the business, taking small stakes in some of my friends' stables, but rest assured when i decide to jump into the ownership game, i will not be one of those owners who insist on having two year olds winning races in april and may. i fully understand/appreciate the need for an immediate ROI by having early winners (and the commensurate value that those early winners may have as stallions or broodmares), but i'd just as much win the BC Turf as i would the Juvenille....

as for ghostzapper, i'm certain he'll make a great sire- his brother city zip is already turning heads with his first crop- and maybe we'll see a grandfather-father-son winner of the BC Classic in a few years.

sammy, as for drug testing, the testing will become more strict, the cheaters will become more sophisticated (just like in human competition), but i doubt the reason for retiring the horse of the year had anything to do with him being on the juice.