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Ring Weekend Retired to Old Friends

Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement farm in Georgetown, Ky, has welcomed new retiree, Ring Weekend .

Owned and campaigned by West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by Graham Motion, the grade 1-winning gelding retired from racing in 2018 and was initially sent to retrain for a second career with Olympic gold medalist Phillip Dutton, but a recent injury prevented his further progress.

“‘Ring’ showed incredible promise as an Event prospect, so I was devastated when he sustained a career-limiting injury during his turnout,” stated Dutton. “I wish Ring Weekend all the best in his new prestigious retirement home,” Dutton added, “and thanks to everyone that followed and supported him. He’s a remarkable horse.”

Following his recovery Ring Weekend was sent to Julie Lake’s Ship Oak Farm in Massachusetts where he spent 14 months as a pleasure horse, but soundness issues again hampered his success.

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“(Ring Weekend) spent his days hacking out on miles of trails, galloping along Crane beach in Ipswich, and learning to walk out with the Myopia hounds,” said Lake. “But after careful consideration by everyone who loves him, the decision was made to relocate him to Old Friends where he can truly retire and live out his life without any more work or stress.”

By premiere sire Tapit , out of the Cryptoclearance mare Free the Magic, Ring Weekend had both longevity and versatility on the race track.

In all he captured six graded stakes in his six-season career, winning on both the dirt and turf. His triumphs as a 3-year-old include the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) on the dirt and Hill Prince Stakes (G3T) on the turf.

At 4 he scored the biggest victory of his career in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T) at Santa Anita Park before being laid up for more than a year with hoof issues. But he returned to form at age 6 to take the Longines Dixie Stakes (G2T) at Pimlico Race Course and the Bernard Baruch Handicap (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course.

Ring Weekend retired with an overall record of 8-5-4 from 33 starts and earnings of $1,571,576.

“Ring Weekend took his partners on a great ride, competing at 14 different tracks and in 25 stakes races,” stated Erin Birkenhauer, Racing Manager/Director of Communications for West Point Thoroughbreds. “The West Point team is incredibly appreciative of the work done by Graham and Anita Motion, Phillip and Evie Dutton, and Julie Lake over the past few years.

They are all true ambassadors for off-the-track Thoroughbreds,” Birkenhauer continued. “Many thanks to Michael Blowen and the team at Old Friends for welcoming ‘Ring’ with open arms. We can’t wait to visit him at his forever home.”

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