Snitzerland Retired To The Breeding Barn

Talented mare Snitzerland could be sent for a meeting with five-time Group 1 winner All Too Hard during the upcoming breeding season after being retired from racing on Sunday.

Snitzerland broke through for her first win at Group 1 level in the 2014 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes.

Snitzerland broke through for her first win at Group 1 level in the 2014 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Snitzerland was found to have suffered ligament damage in the lead-up to the Group 1 BTC Cup (1200m) at Eagle Farm on May 10 and the daughter of Snitzel was sent to the University Of Queensland Veterinary Clinic at Gatton for scans last week.

The Group 1 winning mare was cleared of serious injury, but managing owners Neil Werrett and Steve McCann made the decision on Sunday to retire the four-year-old to stud; with a visit to All Too Hard at Vinery Stud a strong possibility.

“All Too Hard is my initial thought; he would be one of the favourites, but we’ll discuss it,” Werrett told TVN.

“The only race we could have brought her back for was the Black Caviar Lightning and we just didn’t want to push her because she had already done such a great job for us.

“We decided to retire her and send her to stud, which is always hard to do with such a good horse like her.”

Snitzerland made her racing debut during the 2011 Spring Racing Carnival with a second place finish in the Listed Emirates Airline (1000m) on Melbourne Cup Day and scored her maiden race win with a dominant display in the Group 3 2012 Breeders Stakes (1200m).

The daughter of Snitzel went into the 2012 edition of the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) as one of the outsiders, but produced a strong front-running effort to finish a narrow second behind Pierro and stamp herself as a filly to watch.

After a stint in the spelling paddock, Snitzerland returned to racing with a win in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m) and she took out the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m), Group 3 Champagne Stakes and Blue Sapphire before finishing fifth in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) and six in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic (1200m) at the end of her 2012 Spring Racing Carnival campaign.

Snitzerland returned to winning form in the 2013 Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) and was a short-priced favourite to score her maiden win at Group 1 level in The Galaxy (1100m), but was beaten by Bel Sprinter before producing an uncharacteristically poor performance in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Classic (1200m).

Respiratory problems restricted to Snitzerland to just two runs during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival, but she returned to her best form at the start of her autumn campaign to score a well-deserved win at Group 1 level in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on February 15.

Snitzerland finished her racing career with eight wins from 20 race starts and accumulated just under $2 million in prizemoney for connections.

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.