Princess of Sylmar retired

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 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.

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."