Grade II Winner Chapel Royal Retired

Chapel Royal, a grade II winner who ran third in last year's Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), has been retired from racing because of a minor injury, but no decision has been reached as to where he will enter stud.

A $1.2 million Ocala Breeders' Sales auction 2-year-old in 2003, Chapel Royal won his first three starts by 20 1/4 lengths, including the Sanford (gr. II) and Flash (gr. III) Stakes. He then ran second in the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) and Champagne Stakes (gr. I, to Birdstone) before placing in the Juvenile. He started twice this year and was unplaced both times.

Bred by Michael O'Farrell's Ocala Stud Farm, Chapel Royal (Montbrook--Cut Class Leanne, by Cutlass) was bought at the OBS sale by Coolmore Stud associate Demi O'Byrne and raced for fellow Coolmore associate Michael Tabor in partnership with Derrick Smith. The price was the third-highest for a juvenile of 2003.

Chapel Royal's retirement came several weeks after the retirement of Tabor and Smith's Lion Heart. A grade I winner and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), Lion Heart was the second-highest-priced auction juvenile of 2003, being bought by O'Byrne for $1.4 million. No decision has been reached as to where Lion Heart will enter stud.