'We owe him a lot' - Ebor winner Nakeeta is retired at the age of ten

Iain Jardine hailed Nakeeta as the horse who "put us on the map" after announcing the retirement of the 2017 Ebor winner.

He has called time on the career of the ten-year-old who went on to finish fifth in the Melbourne Cup and will have a lifelong home at his Dumfriesshire yard.

"Nakeeta will be 11 at the turn of the year and we decided to stop while he was sound and well," the trainer said. "He probably would have won another race but we don't want to be slogging him around on the all-weather.

"He's happy. He goes out in the paddock and he'll stay with us during his retirement and enjoy himself. He's 100 per cent sound and has never had a lame day in his life."

Nakeeta won six races and earned more than £520,000 in prize-money and Jardine added: "He's done exceptionally well and been a great horse – he put us on the map. We owe him a lot.

"I trained him when I was over in Hawick before I moved over to Dumfriesshire and it was on the back of him that we were able to expand. He helped us get new owners and raise our profile.

"He won the Ebor and a couple of good races at Haydock prior to that. He ran a cracker from an average draw in Australia and it was a great experience going there."

Watch Nakeeta's win in the Ebor in 2017

Nakeeta has been with Jardine since 2013, bar a short spell spent with Linda Jewell to be closer to his southern-based owners.

Jardine said: "He was a two-year-old when we got him and he'd had a few runs for Mick Channon.

"He was in the Ascot sales and I got recommended him by a friend of mine, Billy McKeown, who I used to ride for a bit. I made Mick an offer before the sale and I got him.

"I can't remember what I paid but he was cheap. He's repaid me many times over and has been great for the Card family who own him.

"We took him along slowly and it wasn't until we started him right up in trip that we began to see the improvement in him and thought he was pretty good."

Callum Rodriguez got the tactics just right on Nakeeta (left) at YorkCredit: Edward Whitaker

When Nakeeta headed the favourite Flymetothestars in the last few strides of the Ebor under then 5lb claimer Callum Rodriguez four years ago it was reward for meticulous planning.

Jardine said: "Callum used to come up and ride him out and every time he came we'd get him into the office and watch replays of the Ebor and Nakeeta's runs so he knew exactly how to ride him going in to York.

"He rode him perfectly and it went right to plan. But credit also has to go to Roy Barrett who rode him out the whole time; he played a big part."

Retiring a horse like Nakeeta would leave a gap to fill in any yard and his trainer said: "I got a couple of horses at the Book 1 sale last week, so I hope they might be all right – but Nakeeta shows that money doesn't buy you success."

Catch up with other recent retirements:

'A wonderful little horse' – Unowhatimeanharry retired aged 13

'We've been blessed' says Nicky Henderson as legendary chaser Altior is retired

'Possibly the best we have ever had in Ballydoyle' – St Mark's Basilica retired

'I'm going to miss him' – Fellowes emotional as Prince Of Arran is retired

The jumps season is coming! Pick up your copy of the Big Jump Off, our brand new pullout signalling the start of the 2021-22 National Hunt season. Free in the Racing Post on Monday, October 18, it's got 72 pages of unbeatable content including ante-post tips, guest columnists, divisional analysis and much more