August 21, 2022

Trainer Mark Steacy confirmed with Trot Insider this morning that Majestic Son, Canada's Horse of The Year for 2006, has been retired due to a leg injury. Steacy said "we didn't want to race Majestic Son unless he was Majestic Son."

Steacy said that the four-year-old son of Angus Hall hasn't been himself since winning his seasonal debut in Hippodrome de Montreal on July 1.

The career $1.9 million earner went on to capture the Frank Ryan Memorial at Rideau Carleton Raceway before racing a gritty mile in the Nat Ray, where he trotted his mile in 1:52.

The 22-time winner last raced in the Trot Prestige at Hippodrome de Montreal on August 19 where he broke in the stretch and finished well back.

"He hadn't been himself over the course of his last few starts," Steacy told Trot Insider. "He didn't feel right in his left hind and we couldn't find out what the problem was. There was no swelling and there wasn't anything obvious that was wrong with him.

"We took him up to Dr. Terry Ruch in Barrie and we went over him with a digital X-ray machine for about three hours. We found that he had splintered a piece of his tibia and he also had a similar problem in a splint bone. Basically, to him it would feel the same as a shin splint or a really bad bruise in a human.

"We could've used shockwave therapy or injected him, which we didn't want to do, or else we could've given him four or five easy weeks of hand walking and eventually gotten him back. If we decided to go that route, we would miss the Breeders Crown and the Maple Leaf Trot with him, and that is what we were pointing at all season for him.

"We could've given him the time and brought him back, but then we run the course of missing another breeding season with him. In light of everything, we made the decision as a group today to retire him. It was a do or don't do type of thing, but we just thought as a group that it would be the best thing to do.

"I can't watch him go around if he's not 100 per cent. And, if he's going up against the group he has to go up against, he wouldn't be able to do it successfully unless he's at his best.

"I'm very disappointed because he's given me a lot of really satisfying moments. If he was injury free this year, I believe that he could've done some very good things this year, but you've got to go with what's best.

"I'm thinking he's going to stand at Tara Hills in Ontario."

Majestic Son retires after making 38 starts, recording 22 wins, five seconds and three third-place finishes. The bay ridgling banked $1,993,157 and took a mark of 1:52.2.

In 13 starts at two, Majestic Son compiled a record of 5-4-1 and earned $527,886. He won a division of the Champlain Stakes (lowering his seasonal mark to 1:55.4) and an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final before triumphing in his OSS Super Final.

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Fyraårige Majestic Son (e. Angus Hall-Celtic Contessa e. King Conch), ifjol utsett till årets häst i Kanada framför jämnårige Hambletonianvinnaren Glidemaster, har gjort sin sista start.

Efter den tveksamma insatsen i Nat Ray Trot, där Majestic Son var ordentligt halt, var hästen ute i Montreal i söndags. även där galopperade hästen bort sig (i loppet som vanns av Giant Diablo) och fungerade inte alls i travet. Efter det loppet veterinär undersöktes hästen - och nu är det bestämt att tävlings skorna läggs på hyllan.

- Hästen har inte varit sig själv i de senaste starterna och veterinären hittade en benbit i skenbenet i vänster bakben, och ett benfragment i området runt griffelbenet också. I bästa fall tar det sex veckor att läka skadan, vilket betyder att hästen missar Breeders Crown och Maple Leaf Trot, så ägargruppen har mer eller mindre beslutat att hästen får lägga av, säger hästens tränare Mark Steacy till standardbredcanada.ca.

Majestic Son har tjänat $1,993,157 och tog ifjol rekordet 1.09,8. I konkurrens med Hambletionianvinnaren Glidemaster utsågs Majestic Son, som till skillnad från sin landsman uteslutande tävlade i Kanada under treåringsässongen, till årets häst 2006 i hemlandet.

Därmed väntar avelsarbete för Majestic Son, men var hingsten kommer att stallas upp är ännu oklart. Enligt tränaren och delägaren Mark Steacy talar allt för att det kommer att bli någonstans i provinsen Ontario. Ett hett tips kan vara stuteriet Tara Hills Stud, eftersom det ägs av Peter Heffering som också är delägare i Majestic Son.

Majestic Son är klapphingst (eng. ridgling) då en av hingstens testiklar inte vandrat ned i pungen. Trots detta tillstånd, som reducerar fertiliteten, uppgav Mark Steacy ifjol häst att hingsten uppvisat ett positivt spermaprov.