Canadian Horse of the Year and Eclipse Award winning Turf Female of 2024 MOIRA has been retired from racing and will soon join the broodmare band at Yulong Investments in Mangalore, Victoria.
The Ontario bred six-year-old by Ghostzapper – Devine Aida by Unbridled’s Song was sold to Yulong last November after her scintillating win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar. She was bought for $4.3 million from X-Men Racing, Madaket Stable and SF Bloodstock. Moira joined trainer Chris Waller in Australia and she made her first start ‘down under’ in April of this year, finishing 14th in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile before she had the (Australian) winter off. She returned with a fourth-place finish in the Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes at seven furlongs and was second in an allowance race in early September.
In her fifth outing in Australia on October 3, Moira finished 10th of 14 in the Group 1 TAB Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on October 3. The Turnbull is a major stepping-stone to the Melbourne Cup (G1) on the first Monday in November. Moira was expected to compete in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup this weekend.
Waller issued a press release on Oct. 14:
“The decision has been made by Yulong to retire Moira and thus she will not run in this week’s Caulfield Cup.
Moira is obviously a world-class mare and while she hasn’t yet quite reached those same heights here in Australia, her performance earlier in the prep gave us a glimpse of her class,” said Waller.
“We simply feel that she is not racing at her absolute best right now and with her extraordinary resumé, she will be an outstanding broodmare, a real asset to the Australian breeding industry.
“It’s fantastic to see international-class horses coming into Australia; it clearly lifts our breeding pool and bloodlines,” Waller wrote in Moira’s retirement announcement. “We very much look forward to seeing her progeny develop and race in the years to come.”
Moira also won the 2023 Queen’s Plate and Woodbine Oaks. She won seven of 17 races in North America and was honoured with a Special Sovereign Award this past April by the Jockey Club of Canada.
“Credit and thanks must go to her previous trainer Kevin Attard, who trained her impeccably and kept her in great condition,” said Waller.
Yulong stands 11 stallions at its Mangalore stud farm, including 2024 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner More Than Looks, by More Than Ready.
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