English group II winner Radiohead has been retired from racing and will spend the rest of his days at Clermont Farm on behalf of Old Friends Equine, which recently formed a partnership with the Germantown, N.Y., facility to board and care for some of its retired horses.
An English-bred son of Johannesburg—Security Interest, by Belong to Me, Radiohead was privately purchased in 2009 by IEAH Stables as a Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) contender. Bred by Redmyre Bloodstock and S. Hillen, the colt was originally consigned by Ballyhimikin Stud at the 2008 Tattersalls October yearling sale and purchased by Hugo Merry Bloodstock for $143,039.
Radiohead had won two of six starts in England, including the 2009 Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II) at Royal Ascot, and was twice group I placed.
While racing for IEAH Stables, Pegasus Holding Group, Carmen Burrell, and Jonathan Harvey in the BC Juvenile, Radiohead had to be steadied, and then faded to seventh. In 2011, he finished third in the Parx Dash Handicap at Parx Racing and fourth in the Jaipur Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park, after which he was claimed for $50,000 by James Chapman. The gelding went on to race in the claiming ranks in Florida and New York—winning just once in 13 starts—and was subsequently claimed two more times.
When his most recent trainer Danny Gargan breezed the 7-year-old gelding April 14, he decided it was time to retire the old campaigner. Chris Antonacci and Gargan contacted Lorita Lindemann because of her role in instituting Suffolk Downs' "Zero Tolerance" policy and her longtime involvement in Thoroughbred aftercare. On behalf of Antonacci and Gargan, Lindemann worked with Old Friends president Michael Blowen to retire Radiohead to Clermont Farm.
"Owner Chris Antonacci and trainer Danny Gargan used their astute horsemanship to recognize that Radiohead's best days were behind him and that the classy gelding deserved a dignified retirement," said Blowen in a release. "Lorita Lindemann is extremely efficient at working out the arrangements for so many Thoroughbreds whose racing careers are over. We're grateful to all of them and to Clermont Farm for taking him in."
