I have always liked this horse since I picked him to win the Derby in '03 (my only correct Derby pick of this decade) and I like this decision a lot. You don't see people retire a healthy horse coming off a stakes win very often. The fact that he gets to go out a stakes winner is a nice end to a nice story. They didn't wait until they absolutely HAD to retire him, which I think is good.
Too bad Santos couldn't have made it back to ride him in his last race. That would have been nice.
The only time I saw him in person was when he won the '04 JCGC, which was an incredibly exciting race, and that is another rason that I will always remember the "gutsy gelding" fondly.
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