Arcadia, CA (My Sportsbook) - Pioneerof the Nile, winner of this year's Santa Anita Derby, has been retired from racing with an injury. According to a statement from Zayat Stables, the three-year-old colt has "a soft tissue injury to his left front leg." Trained by Bob Baffert, Pioneerof the Nile has been stabled at Santa Anita Park where he had been training for a possible start in the $300,000 Swaps Stakes next week at Hollywood Park. "We noticed a little filling in his leg," Baffert said in the announcement. "We were hoping he just rapped it. I'm in shock." Pioneerof the Nile finished second to Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby after being the 4-1 second choice in the morning-line. Two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes, at opening odds of 5-1, the colt was 11th behind the filly Rachel Alexandra and the Kentucky Derby winner. The Preakness was to be his final career race. He proved to be the top three-year-old this winter at Santa Anita with victories in the Robert B. Lewis and San Felipe Stakes. This year he won three of five starts for $1,090,000. In his career Pioneerof the Nile finished with $1,634,200 with five wins in 10 starts. |
