David Loder to Retire at End of 2003

Trainer David Loder announced Dec. 6 his intention to retire at the end of the 2003 season.

In a press release, Loder, currently Godolphin's specialist 2-year-old trainer in Dubai and the UK, said: "It's time for me to do other things. I feel I don't have the same enthusiasm for training as I did when I started and when that happens, the sensible thing is to move on.

"I will hand in my license at the end of next season and after that I plan to be very much involved in the bloodstock world. I have one or two interesting projects to look at."

Sheikh Mohammed, the driving force behind Godolphin, said: "I am disappointed David has decided to give up training, but I understand his reasons. I would have liked him to continue, but he was adamant that he wanted to stop and I must respect that.

"We were fortunate to have David nurture a number of horses who proved themselves at the highest level for Godolphin, including Noverre and Diktat. But more than anything I want to thank him for helping to turn Dubai Millennium into a champion. I will never forget that."

Loder added: "I have been training for 10 years and have had a tremendous amount of fun. I have been lucky enough to train for some of the very best owners and even luckier to win a lot of very good races during that period.

Loder saddled his first winner, Lupescu, in a listed race in October 1992. He also trained Desert Prince, judged the world's best miler by the international handicappers in 1998; and Dubai Millennium as a 2-year-old.

His other major wins include saddling Bahamian Bounty to win the Prix Morny Piaget (Fr-I) in 1996 and Starborough to win the Prix d'Abu Dhabi Airport Duty Free-Prix Jean Prat (Fr-I) in 1997. He also sent out Overbury to win the American Derby (gr. IIT) at Arlington Park in 1994.

Loder has trained solely for Godolphin for the last four years. For the past two years he has trained at Desert Stables in Dubai and Godolphin Stables in Newmarket.

Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager, said: "I have known and admired David for a long time and everyone at Godolphin has enjoyed working with him.

"David's job for Godolphin was a difficult one in that we wanted him to produce horses for the future rather than just successful 2-year-olds, but he did it with the same skill and dedication that has characterized his entire training career."

As for future plans, Crisford said that no decision had yet been taken as to whether Godolphin would employ a new trainer to train juveniles from 2004. "Sheikh Mohammed will decide next year whether Godolphin will employ someone else or whether to spread the horses among his other trainers," Crisford explained.