Princess of Sylmar retired

Princess of Sylmar made it four straight Grade 1 wins by dethroning Royal Delta in the 2013 Beldame (NYRA/Adam Coglianese/David Alcosser)

Multiple Grade 1 winner and $2 million-earner

Princess of Sylmar has been retired, it was announced Friday night.

A homebred racing for Ed Stanco’s King of Prussia Stable, the Todd Pletcher
trainee hadn’t duplicated her stellar 2013 form this campaign. She was most
recently a dull fifth in the August 22 Personal Ensign at Saratoga, and exited
the race with a case of the “thumps,” an electrolyte imbalance.

The following appeared on Princess of Sylmar’s

Facebook page:

“I’m hanging up my racing hooves. This has been an amazing ride, and we owe
everything to the fans who have shown so much love and support. Retirement isn’t
an end, but a new beginning. Thank you. We love you.”

An announcement was likewise posted on the filly’s
official Twitter
page:

“Retirement is calling, but we will never forget all of the fans and all of the
love. This has been a life-changing experience for all of us.”

Princess of Sylmar defeated Beholder in the Kentucky Oaks (Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos)

Princess of Sylmar reappeared in the April 6 Cat Cay at Aqueduct and cruised
home by 3 1/2 lengths. Although a close second in the June 7 Ogden Phipps, just
a head short of Close Hatches, Princess of Sylmar did beat Beholder, who
reported home an injured fourth.

The Pennsylvania-bred then shipped near her birthplace for the historic
Delaware Handicap, but she couldn’t catch front-running Belle Gallantey.
Princess of Sylmar, who was spotting her rival eight pounds as the 123-pound
highweight, had to settle for second.

Connections opted to try Princess of Sylmar in blinkers in the Personal
Ensign, an equipment change that did not have the desired result. Following her
13-length loss, she was discovered to have the thumps, prompting her team to
take time before formulating plans.

Hers was a heartwarming story from the beginning. Stanco raced her dam, Storm
Dixie, and planned to breed her to Grand Slam. But that well-established
stallion was sidelined by injury right before the intended match, and Storm
Dixie instead visited the court of a first-season sire — Majestic Warrior. The
serendipitous result was Princess of Sylmar, named after Ron and Betsy
Houghton’s farm where she was foaled near Christiana, Pennsylvania.

Ed Stanco hailed his homebred as a “blessing beyond once in a lifetime” (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography)

Princess of Sylmar retires with a mark of 15-9-3-0, $2,017,220, just eight
days before she may have defended her title in the Beldame.

“Preparing her for her next race was taking longer than I expected,” Pletcher
said in the release posted on Facebook. “Because she will miss this year’s
running of the Beldame and the Spinster, Ed and I decided that timing is such
that we decided to retire her.”

“We were with her from birth and watched her grow up to be one of the finest
fillies in the world,” Stanco said. “Now she will enter the next phase of her
life.

“The Princess was a blessing beyond once in a lifetime and she has provided
our partners, families, friends and racing fans with unparalleled joy.

“My partners and I want to personally thank Joe Brocklebank our trusted
advisor, Ron and Betsy Houghton who raised the Princess, Mike Smith, Javier
Castellano and of course Todd and his team for using their skills to develop her
into a classic filly.

“We also want to thank the connections of Beholder, Royal Delta and Close
Hatches, because without them we wouldn’t have had the world class competition
that made racing the Princess so much fun.”