Time Called on Group 1 Winner's Career

Group 1 winner Julius (Swiss Ace-Oh So Royal, by Danzero) has been retired. According to a report on loveracing.co.nz, it’s not the first time the Swiss Ace 9YO has entered the retirement paddock, having been forced away from the track following his third-placing in 2018’s Gr3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m) after scans revealed he had a hole in his near fore tendon. At that point in his career Julius had won the Gr3 Concorde Handicap (1200m), Gr3 Darley Stallions Plate (1200m), and placed in the Gr2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) and Sweynesse Stakes. After spending considerable time roaming a large sheep station on New Zealand’s west coast, the evergreen galloper went from chasing the sheep back into trainer John Bell’s stable, winning Gr3 J Swap Contractors Sprint (1400m) second-up in 2019, before recording his first elite-level victory in the Gr1 Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day 2020. “He has been an amazing horse, he’s an incredible animal – what he has done and won,” Bell said. “It’s been a wonderful journey.” Bell said the intention was to give Julius one final run in the Gr3 Haunui Farm King’s Plate (1200m) at Ellerslie on March 6, however, he said his stable star has nothing left to prove. “If you want to listen, they will talk to you. I went and had a chat with him on Monday and he said, ‘John mate, I’m done’.”

Julius has been retired (pic: Trish Dunell)