FOUR-TIME GROUP ONE HERO AL KAZEEM RETIRED FROM STALLION DUTIES

Al Kazeem, the four-time Group One winner whose career took one of the more unusual twists in recent racing history, has been retired from stallion duties at the age of 18. The son of Dubawi will remain at Oakgrove Stud near Chepstow, his home since 2016, where he will see out his days.

A GLORIOUS SUMMER

Trained by Roger Charlton for breeder John Deer, Al Kazeem won ten of his 23 starts and was at his peak in the summer of 2013. In a remarkable 41 days he beat Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh, then added the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

That sequence earned him a place at The Royal Studs at Sandringham after he was bought by Queen Elizabeth II, but his first season at stud in 2014 produced only 25 mares in foal. Declared subfertile, he returned to Charlton's care after John Deer bought him back from the insurers, and he showed he had lost none of his ability.

He won the Winter Hill Stakes, went down by only a neck to Noble Mission in the Champion Stakes, and landed the Prix d'Harcourt before bowing out in the best possible way, regaining the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the age of seven by a neck from Fascinating Rock.

A SECOND ACT AT OAKGROVE

Back at stud he defied his fertility issues to sire 57 winners, a 56 per cent strike-rate from runners, along with nine stakes performers. His best offspring is Aspetar, conceived during his time at Sandringham and winner of Germany's Group One Preis von Europa. Saint Lawrence took the Wokingham Stakes, while Royal Ascot winner Mezcala and City and Suburban Handicap scorer Rathgar have also flown the flag.

"He's given the Deer family a lot of satisfaction," Oakgrove Stud manager David Hilton told the Racing Post. Few horses have given the sport a story quite like it.