Cape Blanco retires

I've been trying to think of reasons why the retirement of Cape Blanco on Monday made me a bit sad. I haven't been interested racing for that long (about 18 months) so it's not as if I've followed the four-year-old's career in entirety. I saw him race in the flesh once, in the 2010 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, but at that stage of my racing education, I wasn't really aware of what was going on. It's not a nationalistic thing, as the colt is Irish and only raced in Britain three times. He isn't even my favourite horse. That honour goes to another four-year-old in Dick Turpin.

The first time I paid proper attention to the AP O'Brien-trained runner was while watching his victory in the Irish Champion Stakes last September, when he destroyed a field that included Rip Van Winkle. But again, I bypassed him through the early part of this year, until to my surprise, he turned up on the card for the Man O'War Stakes at Belmont Park, NY.
After spending a lot of this year trying, and mainly failing, to get acquainted with US racing, the presence of Cape Blanco on Long Island suddenly got my attention. As did the booking of Jamie Spencer as pilot. The fact that horse and jockey won comfortably only sought to heighten my interest.
When the pair teamed up again for the Arlington Million in August I decided to back the horse for the first and only time, at a ridiculously large price of 7/2. Suffice to say, victory came without too much difficulty.
The final act of what amounted to a nine-win, 14-race career saw the son of Galileo pushed all the way by Dean's Kitten back at Belmont Park. The American hat-trick was complete.

Maybe it's because he won me some money. That, I have found, always plays a part in following a horse's career. But more than that, I feel it's down to his sustained success in America, and the thoughts of what might have been at the Breeders' Cup in November. Unlike a couple of last year's European successes in the US, Debussy and Dangerous Midge, Cape Blanco wasn't a flash-in-the-pan. Lets hope his new career is as successful as his old one.