Veteran sprinter The Tatling set for last race

VETERAN sprinter The Tatling will be retired at the end of an extraordinary career after running in his 176th race under rules at Wolverhampton on Monday.

Trainer Milton Bradley is callingtime on the career of the 14-year-old, who has won 17 races, including the King's Stand Stakes, and was second in the Nunthorpe Stakes three times.

"He has got a little bit steadier and it is unfair to run him after he has been such a good servant to us," the trainer said on Sunday. "He has just lost a bit of his sparkle."

Bradley has had The Tatling since claiming him in 2002 and  nominated The Tatling's 2004 victory in the King's Stand - then a Group 2 - as the highlight.

He said: "It was a big field and they didn't give us a lot of chance, two furlongs out he had three behind him but he won going away, it was no lucky win."