Report: Champion Wonder Wheel is retired due to bone bruising
Wonder Wheel, the champion juvenile filly of 2022, has been retired. In her final start Saturday, she finished eighth beaten by 21 3/4 lengths in the Selene (G3) at Woodbine as the odds-on favorite.
Wonder Wheel will be sold at the Fasig-Tipton November sale on Nov. 7 according to a report by Bill Finley of Thoroughbred Daily News. Jon Green, general manager of her owner D.J. Stables, told Finley that she was hampered by an ankle problem.
"Wonder Wheel has been battling a couple of minor issues since her 2-year-old year," Green told Finley. "She had bone bruising and a minor ankle injury. We gave her some time off and did a little procedure on her ankle to take care of a flake. Unfortunately, because she is a 17-hand beast, she continued to have some bone bruising and the same ankle has been an issue. This week, we decided that because she would need some time before we could run her again that we'd pull the plug on her racing career."
D.J. Stable purchased Wonder Wheel, a daughter of Into Mischief out of multiple Grade 1-placed Wonder Gal, for $275,000 as a yearling. She quickly proved herself on the track. She won four of her five starts on her way to becoming the champion 2-year-old filly of 2022. After winning her maiden special weight debut and the listed Debutante at Churchill, she ran into her only setback when second beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Leave No Trace in the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga.
She bounced right back into her best form in the fall, winning the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. She then turned the tables on Leave No Trace in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies the next month, rallying from near the rear to score by three lengths over the filly who defeated her at Saratoga.
Wonder Gal struggled to train on as a 3-year-old, however. Her best finish in four starts was a second-place finish in her seasonal debut, the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 11. She finished off the board in her next three races, which included a ninth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks (G1).
Wonder Gal retires with a 9: 4-2-0 record and earnings of $1,591,857.