Blue Point Retired to Stud After Royal Ascot Double
Trainer Charlie Appleby has paid tribute to brilliant sprinter Blue Point, who he says has been retired "at the pinnacle of his career" and with nothing left to prove.
The 5YO, who will stand at Sheikh Mohammed's Dalham Hall Stud at Newmarket next year, was the equine star of Royal Ascot when he completed a Group One sprint double that had only been achieved by the great Australian sprinter Choisir since the second world war.
Blue Point claimed back-to-back wins in the Gr.1 King's Stand Stakes when beating Battaash for a second time June 18, before gamely fending off the highly progressive Dream of Dreams after traveling strongly into contention in the Gr.1 Diamond Jubilee just four days later.
champion sprinter Harry Angel in the 2017 Merriebelle Stable Pavilion Stakes (G3). He played a key role in a vintage season for sprinters, and his subsequent third behind Caravaggio and Harry Angel in the Commonwealth Cup (G1)—his only defeat at the track—came in an epic renewal.
He was also beaten only once at Meydan, where his comfortable Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Azizi Developments (G1) victory over crack American sprinters Belvoir Bay and Stormy Liberal—the latter a dual winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T)—on Dubai World Cup night in March earned him almost £950,000 ($1.2 million).
Buick, who partnered Masar to last year's Epsom defeat of Dee Ex Bee, Roaring Lion, and Saxon Warrior, was watching from the stands Saturday and was happy enough with what he saw.