Keen Ice to miss Breeders' Cup Classic 2017, retired to stud
The 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic lost a contender Thursday when it was announced Keen Ice, a Grade 1 winner and top closer in the Nov. 4 race at Del Mar, suffered an ankle injury and will be retired to stud at Calumet Farm.
The Daily Racing Form first reported Keen Ice wrenched his ankle in a gallop this week and would not follow through with a scheduled workout Friday at Belmont Park.
“Donegal Racing has been blessed to campaign a number of Grade 1 race winners,” Jerry Crawford, president of co-owner Donegal Racing, said according to the Paulick Report. “But only Keen Ice has pulled off one of the biggest sports upsets of the century when he beat Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah in the 2015 Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
By Curlin, 5-year-old Keen Ice won just three of 24 starts but racked up $3,407,245 in earnings as a late running with a penchant for hitting the board in the United States' biggest races. He was graded stakes placed in the Belmont and Haskell at age 3, the Breeders' Cup Classic at age 4 and was set to make a third straight appearance in the Classic this year.
“Thoroughbred racing needs more durable horses with stamina to succeed in the big contests,” Crawford said. “In Keen Ice we had both. We see nothing but positives for his genetic line.”
The injury wouldn't have otherwise ended Keen Ice's career, but with the Classic only a week away, trainer Todd Pletcher told DRF the ankle wouldn't have time to "quiet down" before post time.
Calumet bought into Keen Ice in anticipation of his next career at the Lexington, Ky., farm. The horse ran second to Diversify in his final start in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Oct. 7 at Belmont.
"We’ve got to breeze now, trying to make a race on the other side of the country against the best horses in the world," Pletcher told DRF. "It’s not shaping up right. He’s accomplished everything he’s accomplished. He’s already got a home at Calumet, so hopefully he goes on and has a successful stallion career.