Appleby pays tribute to retiring Derby hero Adayar

Derby and King George winner Adayar has been retired from racing.

The Godolphin-owned son of Frankel provided trainer Charlie Appleby with a second Derby success at Epsom in 2021 when ridden by Adam Kirby before going on to beat his elders in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot the following month under William Buick.

He was subsequently beaten in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Champion Stakes though, and only made it to the track twice last season, albeit going close in the Champion Stakes when beaten just half a length by Bay Bridge.

Connections brought him back as a five-year-old in the hope of adding to his top-level tally – but while he made a successful comeback in the rescheduled Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket in May, he was beaten into third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and was turned over at cramped odds by Israr in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket on his latest outing.

Appleby told www.godolphin.com: “Adayar provided the team with two outstanding days on the racecourse at Epsom and Ascot and has been a firm favourite in the yard for the past three seasons. He has been an absolute pleasure to train.

“He will be sorely missed at Moulton Paddocks but we look forward to watching him in his new career at stud and are quite sure he will be a huge success.”

In all Adayar won five of his 13 races and amassed almost £2million in win and place prize money, with future stud plans yet to be announced.

Kirby only came in for the Derby ride on Adayar after Frankie Dettori replaced him on the unplaced John Leeper and the rider praised the Classic winner.

He said: “Adayar will always hold a special place in my heart, as he gave me the biggest win of my career.

“Obviously what he achieved means he’s a great horse. He had a very high cruising speed and he could really quicken and keep lengthening, which takes a bit of doing.

“He had a great mind. I’d never ridden him before Epsom, but he travelled round very strong and he made everything easy for me.

“He had a great turn of foot, but what he achieved speaks for itself – he was obviously very, very talented on his day and I’m sure he will do well as a stallion.”