Report: Smooth Like Strait is retired to stud in Kentucky

Smooth Like Strait, a turf specialist whose biggest win came two years ago as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita, was formally retired to stud in Kentucky, BloodHorse reported Tuesday.

The 6-year-old son of Midnight Lute bred and owned by Michael Cannon will stand starting next year for a $3,500 fee at War Horse Place in Lexington, Ky. He was described as being sound when he was retired, BloodHorse said.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, Smooth Like Strait had a record of 26: 7-9-3 with earnings of $1,813,863. His last race was March 11, when he finished fifth as the 1-2 favorite in the Cotton Fitzsimmons Handicap at Turf Paradise.

Out of the Flower Alley mare Smooth as Usual, Smooth Like Strait also won the 2019 Cecil B. DeMille (G3), the 2020 La Jolla Handicap (G3), the 2020 Twilight Derby (G2) and the 2020 Mathis Brothers Mile (G2).

Since his Grade 1 breakthrough in the Shoemaker Mile on May 31, 2021, Smooth Like Strait went 11: 0-6-1. He was a close second to Space Blues in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar, a more distant runner-up to Count Again in the 2022 Shoemaker Mile and second to Santin in the 2022 Arlington Million (G1) at Churchill Downs.