Declan’s Moon Retired

Declan’s Moon in the Winner’s Circle, certainly not a recent sighting (chriswwalsh)

Although, you’d only know it you happened to read the article on Heatseeker’s Hiatus… or in my case, see in Racehorse Girl’s rss feed!

His last out was a miserable 7th and his 5th consecutive loss. The poor guy has had his share of injuries, including a mysterious breathing problem.

In recent starts, Declan’s Moon has been plagued by a breathing problem, which contributed to losses in all three of his starts this year. In Thursday’s race, Declan’s Moon, 6, led to early stretch but faded to finish 10 lengths behind race winner Mostacolli Mort.

“He can’t get his air,” Ellis said. “It was only under severe stress that it happened. We tried everything and it’s not something that can be fixed.”

I suppose it’s safe to assume that if he wasn’t a gelding that he would have been swooped right off to the shed with this first injury prior to the 2005 Derby. Maybe he would have faired better as sire than a race horse or perhaps he would have passed on his issues, we’ll never know. The good news is that he’ll have a comfortable landing:

“The Siegels will find a nice place for him to live out his life in peace and quiet,” Ellis said.

Here’s his fantastic Hollywood Futurity:

Best of luck to him for an enjoyable retirement!