'He came back for an encore but we've been on borrowed time with him' - 2021 Gold Cup winner Subjectivist retired

Subjectivist, an emphatic winner of the 2021 Gold Cup, has been retired after finishing lame in a piece of work this week.

The staying star, who beat Princess Zoe by five lengths at Royal Ascot, was being prepared for a tilt at next month's Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup. He suffered a career-threatening tendon injury following his Gold Cup romp but was nursed back to peak fitness by trainer Charlie Johnston.

After returning in Saudi Arabia in February, Subjectivist finished third in the Dubai Gold Cup before delighting connections when filling the same place behind Courage Mon Ami at Royal Ascot last month. However, his second career as a stallion now beckons after suffering a setback on Tuesday. 

Johnston said: “Subjectivist came back for an encore this year, but we’ve been on borrowed time with him for a while. It was an incredible performance from my team to get him to Ascot in the first place last month, let alone finish third.

“After Ascot the scans on the tendon injury he did two years ago changed. The stresses of running two and a half miles at that level took its toll. We gave him a fortnight of swimming and water walking and he cantered on Tuesday. Sadly, he was lame on Wednesday morning.

“We’ve been balancing risk and reward for 18 months and I would hate to do the horse any damage so we’ve decided to retire him. Goodwood was going to be his swansong, win, lose or draw, in any case."

Subjectivist (blue cap): finest moment came in the 2021 Gold Cup at Royal AscotCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Johnston believes Subjectivist, who won six of his 20 races and earned more than £890,000 in prize-money, did not get the recognition he merited.

“The Gold Cup win was definitely the highlight,” Johnston said. “He was brilliant that day, yet he never really got the acclaim he deserved. Many people were focusing on Frankie Dettori’s ride on the favourite Stradivarius even though Subjectivist had just dismantled a top-class field.

“At that point in time I genuinely thought Subjectivist would go on to emulate Yeats and dominate that division for a long time. He was a champion stayer, and my regret is that we only got to see how good he really was during a six-month window.”

The six-year-old, a son of Teofilo, is likely to go to stud and Johnston added: “A few people have asked about him and expressed an interest."

Subjectivist emerged as a potential top talent when landing the Listed Glasgow Stakes at Hamilton in 2020. He then finished third in the Gordon Stakes, a Group 3 which contained four Derby runners in a field of six, before returning to Goodwood to win the March Stakes by 15 lengths.

His first Group 1 success came that autumn when he made all to beat Valia by two lengths in the Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp. After a winter break, Subjectivist, who is owned by Dr Jim Walker, returned to land the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan prior to his Gold Cup triumph.

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