Adelaide Retired To Stand At Stud

2014 Cox Plate winner Adelaide has been retired from racing and will stand at Coolmore as a stallion for the upcoming breeding season.

Adelaide will stand at Coolmore for the upcoming breeding season. Photo by: Sarah Ebbett

Adelaide will stand at Coolmore for the upcoming breeding season. Photo by: Sarah Ebbett

Adelaide stamped himself as a talented galloper with a string of impressive performances in Europe during the 2014 Northern Hemisphere racing season and he was sent to the United States where he recorded a maiden win in the Group 1 Secretariat Stakes (2011m) at Arlington in August last year.

A half-share in the Galileo entire was purchased by Australian-based connections and he was sent to Australia following his third place finish in the Group 2 Prix Niel (2400m) at Longchamp on September 14 for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m).

Adelaide was settled at the tail of the field by jockey Ryan Moore in the early stages of the Cox Plate and the leading hoop went for home with about 1000 metres left to run, but the four-year-old was able to circle the entire field and score a most impressive win.

The talented import joined the stable of Chris Waller following his Cox Plate victory and he was set for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) during the 2015 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, but he was not impressive in two barrier trials for his new stable and he could finish no better than eighth behind Criterion in the Group 1 event at Royal Randwick on April 11.

Adelaide was originally set to return to Europe for the 2015 Royal Ascot Meeting, but Coolmore announced yesterday that the entire will join their stallion roster in the Hunter Valley for the 2015 Southern Hemisphere breeding season.

“His win in the Cox Plate will live long in the memory,” Coolmore Australia General Manager Michael Kirwan said in a statement.

“To my mind, it was the performance of the year.”

While Adelaide failed to perform at his best during his time in the Waller stable, Waller said that it was still a great privilege to be able to work with a talented galloper like Adelaide and he believes that the Cox Plate winner would have produced an improved performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes if the Royal Randwick track had not been rain affected.

“It’s been a pleasure to be associated with a horse of this caliber,” Waller said.

“He’s a horse with an awesome change of pace and we’ve seen him do some spectacular things in his track work with us.

“It’s a shame the ground went against him in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes since which he hasn’t been 100%.”

Adelaide will join the likes of Choisir, Declaration Of War, Excelebration, Fastnet Rock, Holy Roman Emperor, Pierro, So You Think, Uncle Mo, Verrazano and Zoffany on the Coolmore Roster for the upcoming breeding season.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.