Group 1 winning mare First Seal has been retired from racing following her unplaced effort in the Group 1 $1m Coolmore Legacy Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) at Randwick last Saturday.
Group 1 winning mare First Seal,above, has been retired from racing. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Jockey Blake Shinn let First Seal stride to the front from a wide barrier and the John Thompson trained five year old mare was still in front at the 250m before getting swamped to finish sixth.
The Chris Waller trained Foxplay was able to win her first Group 1 trophy when Kerrin McEvoy brought her with a well-timed run to hold off the fast finishing Zanbagh.
First Seal kicked off here final racing campaign with a first up fifteenth in the Group 1 $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill on March 11 before running third to I Am A Star in the Group 2 $200,000 Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on March 24.
Owners China Horse Club Racing sent a message via twitter that First Seal’s racing days are over.
“All good things come to an end. A truly wonderful mare. Many thanks for all the wonderful memories.” China Horse Club tweeted.
First Seal has the distinction of being only one of a handful of horses that has beaten super star Winx when she won her first and only Group 1 trophy in the 2014 Group 1 $400,000 Coolmore Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
The Fastnet Rock mare was also placed four times at Group 1 level and was last in the winner’s stall when she beat Tycoon Tara and Pearls in the Group 2 $200,000 Schweppes Tristarc Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield during the 2016 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
From twenty-one starts First Seal visited the winner’s stall on six occasions as well as running six seconds and a third and earned $1,259,060 in prizemoney for her connections.
