'He really put me on the map' - Ed Walker's stalwart Stormy Antarctic retired

Ed Walker has paid emotional tribute to Stormy Antarctic, the five-time Group race winner who has been retired at age of nine.

The trainer was full of praise for a gelding who won in four different countries, earned over £736,000 in prize money and "really put me on the map."

Stormy Antarctic had his 46th and final start in the Balmoral Handicap on Champions Day last Saturday and Walker wrote in his Racing Post Weekender column: "The way he ran at Ascot made the decision to retire him much easier. It was clearly time to call it a day.

"As much as he loves training and day to day life as a racehorse, he probably doesn't quite love the actual racing as much as he used to. He'll be ten next year and the last thing we want is for anything to happen to him after all that he's done for us. He owes us nothing, he's sound and he's had a brilliant career."

Stormy Antarctic, a 200,000gns breeze-up buy in 2015, gained his most high-profile success in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket the following year.

"A lightning bolt hit the grandstand so there was no commentary and they came home in silence. He absolutely bolted up and it was a very special day," Walker recalled.

Stormy Antarctic: Craven win in 2016 was one of five Group victoriesCredit: Mark Cranham

"Then there was the excitement of being second favourite for the Guineas, although unfortunately he got kicked four or five days beforehand - I think he felt that when he was at full gallop and he ran moderately."

Gelded at the age of four, Stormy Antarctic won nine times in total and was second in ten races, four of them Group 1s.

"He was incredibly consistent and he ran within 2lb of his best Racing Post rating 17 times," Walker said. "He means an awful lot to us as he really put me on the map when he won the Craven. Then he did a huge amount to help establish us after our move down to Lambourn.

"I owe Stormy a huge amount and I'll make sure he's well looked after in his retirement. He loves work and will need some kind of routine and discipline so the Retraining of Racehorses classes could be really good for him. We'll just need to find the right home for him."

Walker also paid tribute to Stormy Antarctic’s owners and said: “I’d like to thank the Siu family, who’ve been incredibly supportive of me over the last eight years.

"Stormy was one of the first horses they bought with Alastair Donald. We’ve had a lot of fun with a number of good horses but Stormy will always be hard to beat."

Read the full story in the Racing Post Weekender

Stormy Antarctic in numbers:

200,000gs - cost as a two-year-old in 2015

£736,111 - total earnings

116 - best Racing Post rating

8 - number of times he ran to 116

46 - races

9 - wins

10 - seconds

7 - thirds

5 - Group race wins

4 - Group 1 seconds; different countries won in (Britain, France, Germany, Italy)

19 - different jockeys

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