(From Churchill Downs)
Hal Wiggins hit the apex of his training career this spring when he saddled Rachel Alexandra to her resounding victory in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I). He hopes the final month on the backside gets off to a rousing start Nov. 1 when he sends out Brassy Boy in the Iroquois (gr. III) for longtime client Millsap Stables.
Wiggins, who has 20 horses stabled at Churchill Downs, is retiring at the end of the meet on Nov. 28, two days before his 67th birthday.
“It is starting to sink in a little bit,” Wiggins said. “It will probably hit me on the 28th when I get ready to turn another year older. I’m going to go to Houston. My wife, Renee, is already there.
“I am still going to go to sales and still be involved in it because I love the game so much. I don’t want to quit cold turkey.”
Brassy Boy won his first two starts during the spring meet and then ran third in the Bashford Manor (gr. III).
“I gave him a month off after the Bashford Manor,” Wiggins said. “He came back at Louisiana Downs (on Oct. 3 in the Razorback Futurity) and ran OK. He was just second best that day.”
The horse that beat Brassy Boy that day, Comedero, also is considered a likely Iroquois starter.
“I hope Brassy Boy likes a mile better than the other colt,” Wiggins said.