Photo:

Jason Moran / Eclipse Sportswire

Dornoch, an Eclipse Award candidate who brought former baseball star Jayson Werth back to prominence as a Thoroughbred owner, suffered bone bruising in training and has been retired to begin a stud career
next year at Spendthrift Farm, trainer Danny Gargan confirmed Saturday night.

“It’s OK,” Gargan said in a text message to Horse Racing Nation. “He’s going to make a great stud.”

After the story was posted first by Thoroughbred Daily News, Spendthrift formally announced the retirement in a Saturday afternoon news release. It said Gargan thought something was amiss with Dornoch after a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes last month at Saratoga.

“Dornoch’s performance in the Travers really wasn’t what we expected, and we just have not been happy with the way he’s trained since,” Gargan said in the news release. “We decided to have the vets go over him thoroughly before we started to really ramp up his works for the Breeders’ Cup. That’s when some bone bruising was discovered. The Breeders’ Cup (Classic) was going to be his last race anyway, so given the timing, the right thing to do is to retire him.”

Dornoch emerged as a top contender in the 3-year-old male division after capturing consecutive victories in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga and the Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park. Earlier in the year, he also secured a win in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

His profile was enhanced by the high-profile presence of Werth, who is in the photo atop this story. As one of the owners, he became a frequent TV ambassador for Dornoch, his connections and his fans.

“Dornoch owes us nothing,” Gargan said. “He’s the best horse I’ve ever trained, and our team is going to miss having him around the barn. But we are also excited about his future. He’s going to a great place in Spendthrift, and I think Dornoch has a big chance to be a good sire.”

As a 2-year-old Dornoch scored a maiden win at Keeneland before ending his season with a victory in the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct.

“We are very excited to have Dornoch join our stallion roster,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. “He’s just a tremendous individual, with a pedigree and race record to match. Dornoch won a couple of major Grade 1 races from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/4 miles this year. We believe he’s the best 3-year-old we’ve seen from the Curlin line, and he really has all the makings of a special stallion prospect. We look forward to showing him off to our breeders in the near future.”

Dornoch was retired with career earnings of $2,427,275 for his owners West Paces Racing, Randy Hill’s R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing, Werth’s Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing Stables. He is out of Big Brown mare Puca and is a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage.