Six-time Epsom Derby (G1)-winning trainer Sir Michael Stoute has announced he will stop training at the end of the year, bringing to an end a glittering career spanning six decades.
Stoute, 78, has trained numerous champions, including the peerless Shergar, one of a half-dozen Epsom Derby winners, as well as the likes of 1983 Irish Derby (G1) winner Shareef Dancer, England’s 1989 Horse of the Year Zilzal , group 1 winner Harbinger , and Workforce , who in 2010 captured the Epsom Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1).
A frequent shipper to North America, Stoute captured eight Breeders’ Cup victories including four editions of the Turf (G1T), two by Conduit , one by Kalanisi and one by Pilsudski. He won the Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) three times with Islington, Dank, and Queen’s Trust. His most recent Breeders’ Cup win arrived thanks to Expert Eye in the 2018 Mile (G1T).
Stoute has been champion trainer in England on ten occasions. From 1985-2022 there were only four seasons in which he did not send out a group 1 winner.
In a statement to the PA news agency, Stoute said: “I have decided to retire from training at the end of this season. I would like to thank all my owners and staff for the support they have given me over the years. It has been a great and enjoyable journey.”
Stoute saddled his first winner in 1972 and four years later Fair Salinia became his first classic winner when winning the Epsom Oaks, a race the trainer also won with Unite in 1987. He has won 16 British classics, most recently the 2022 Epsom Derby with Desert Crown , and 13 in Ireland, as well as plundering some of the biggest prizes around the world.
Many of his biggest victories came at Royal Ascot where, starting with Etienne Gerard in the 1977 Jersey Stakes, Stoute has had 82 winners, second only to Aidan O’Brien, and has been leading trainer at the meeting six times.
He also became one of the most enthusiastic adopters of the expanded international calendar and has won a number of landmark races globally. Besides his Breeders’ Cup success, his horses have captured the Japan Cup (G1), Dubai World Cup (G1), Hong Kong Vase (G1), Canadian International Stakes (G1T), and the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T).
Chris Richardson, managing director of the Thompson family’s Cheveley Park Stud, for whom Stoute trained One Thousand Guineas heroine Russian Rhythm among a myriad of other big-race winners, said: “Michael was an iconic trainer who was always one step ahead in every way. He was a talented horseman who had a wonderful eye for a horse and from whom I learnt a huge amount since joining Cheveley Park Stud in 1987. Michael has trained for the Thompsons for 40 seasons which is extraordinary really.”
The trainer first scored at the highest level when Music Maestro won the 1977 Flying Childers Stakes (G1) and his most recent group 1 winner is Bay Bridge , who landed the 2022 Champion Stakes at Ascot. Before racing Sept. 9, Stoute had recorded 19 winners from 127 runners this season, with Passenger providing the most notable success in the group 2 Huxley Stakes in May.
Stoute, who was knighted in 1998 for services to tourism in his native Barbados, last year was inducted into the British Champions Series Hall of Fame.
