Trend of stakes horses retiring early hurts sport

I thought that the downturn in the economy would decrease the number of stakes horses being retired early. Instead, seemingly as fast as the Breeders’ Cup Classic was made official, the top four favorites in the race — Zenyatta, Lookin At Lucky, Blame and Quality Road — were all retired.

It has been a discouraging aspect of racing that once a horse establishes stardom, he or she immediately disappears to the breeding shed.

I thought this negative trend would abate with stud fees dropping, sales prices falling and fewer racehorses being bred each year. It has not.

Another reason this trend won’t change anytime soon is that the largest increases in stakes money are going to 2- and 3-year-old horses. Common sense should dictate that older horses who have proven themselves should have the incentive of racing for a lot more money.

Meanwhile, the Triple Crown can be counterproductive because it’s a meat grinder for talented young horses. Of the three Triple Crown race winners, for example, only Preakness victor Lookin At Lucky survived to make the Classic field. Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and Belmont Stakes champ Drosselmeyer were retired. This, unfortunately, is the norm.

There was some positive news: The 1-2 finishers of the Turf Mile, Goldikova and Gio Ponti, are returning. Both are star 5-year-olds with nothing left to prove. Goldikova will be trying to win her fourth consecutive Turf Mile, a feat that would rank her among the greatest horses of all time, if she’s not there already.

Gio Ponti will point to the $10 million Dubai World Cup as well as other grass and synthetic stakes races in 2011. Owner Shane Ryan told the Thoroughbred Times that “it is an exciting time to have a tough, consistent horse in training as prize money is generally one of the more lucrative sides of our business.”

These things underscore how special it was to have Zenyatta race as a 6-year-old mare.

And finally, it irks me that horses such as Zenyatta and Blame are being criticized for winning Grade I stakes and accused of beating nothing. It’s not totally their fault. There are many factors in play, including a lack of quality depth in older-horse divisions due to so many early retirements.

■ QUALIFIER SET — There will be a one-day qualifier at Sam’s Town on Thursday, with the top three finishers earning a free entry into the Horseplayer World Series.

The entry fee for Thursday’s contest is $100.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.