Champion filly Shamrock Rose, who ‘got on a roll,’ retires

Champion Shamrock Rose, who won four straight races and capped last season with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, has retired, trainer Mark Casse said.

The 4-year-old daughter of First Dude raced three more times in 2019, most recently when fifth in the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, before suffering an injury in an April 19 workout.

After pondering her future, connections of the Pennsylvania-bred elected on retirement. Shamrock Rose is likely to be offered at auction in one of the November sales as a broodmare prospect by her owner, Conrad Farms.

“What I’ll remember about her was that she was an OK 2-year-old — struggled a little bit — and she just came back so strong,” Casse said. “Sometimes they just need a little break, and I think that was the key to her success.”

Shamrock Rose won Woodbine’s Ontario Debutante on debut Sept. 9, 2017, but didn’t visit the winner’s circle again until coming off a layoff of more than three months to take the Aug. 5, 2018, Malvern Rose at Presque Isle Downs.

“She got on a roll,” Casse said, with another Woodbine stakes score preceding a win in Keeneland’s Raven Run Stakes (G2), also Shamrock Rose’s graded debut.

Under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Shamrock Rose won the Filly & Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs in a blanket finish, prevailing by a head in a race where the Top 4 were separated by a half length.

Eclipse Awards voters sided 136-113 in favor of Shamrock Rose with their fist-place votes, giving her the championship over Marley’s Freedom, who was beaten as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup.

Shamrock Rose finished her career 5-2-2 in 13 starts with earnings of $968,962.