Dirt marathon specialist Lone Rock is retired

After finishing a well-beaten sixth in the Birdstone Stakes on Thursday at Saratoga, millionaire dirt-marathon specialist Lone Rock has been retired.

Bet down to the 5-1 second choice behind Next in the 1 3/4-mile race at Saratoga, Lone Rock tracked in range early but weakened to cross the wire 52 lengths behind Next. His connections decided afterwards that he was done racing. Trainer Robertino Diodoro plans to keep Lone Rock in his barn and make him a stable pony, according to a report from David Grening of Daily Racing Form.

Lone Rock's 2023 campaign began with a second-place finish in the Temperence Hill Stakes at Oaklawn on April 2, a length behind long shot Calibrate. However, he finished a well-beaten sixth in both the Isaac Murphy Marathon at Churchill Downs on May 3 and the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga on July 27. He had won the Isaac Murphy Marathon in both 2021 and 2022 and also won the Birdstone in 2022.

Lone Rock retires with a 45: 16-6-3 record, including graded-stakes wins in the 2021 Brooklyn (G2) and the 2021 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G2). He earned $1,446,291 in a career that spanned from 2017 through 2023. He began his career for trainer William VanMeter and owner Shortleaf Stable, who purchased him for $55,000 as a yearling.

The gelded son of Majestic Warrior was first claimed by Diodoro and the Flying P Stables of Jay Provenzano for $40,000 at Saratoga on July 29, 2020. They lost Lone Rock for the same price October 21, 2020 at Keeneland, but took him back out of a victory in a $40,000 claimer at Churchill Downs on November 26, 2020. He remained in the Diodoro barn for the rest of his career, with R. A. Hill Stable and Flying Partners buying in to join Provenzano.