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51.
Universal
Prince retired
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22/10/2002 |
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Owner
Terry Hogan made the decision to retire four-time Group One winner Universal
Prince (Scenic – Biscay Bird by Bluebird) after he was unplaced in the
Caulfield Cup on Saturday, October 19.
The connections of Universal Prince are yet to decide where he will start his
new career.
Universal Prince’s owners enjoyed both the highest of highs when he won the
AJC Australian Derby (2400) and endured a crushing low when he was scratched
from the Melbourne Cup after he failed in the Mackinnon Stakes. The VRC vets
said he was sore. Trainer Bede Murray said he wasn’t. The stewards won and
Murray watched the Cup in the bar of a South Melbourne pub.
Universal Prince showed his potential from the beginning, winning on debut at
Kembla Grange and then again at his third outing. It was during his spring
campaign as a three-year-old that he notched up his first stakes victory, in the
G3 Spring Stakes (1600m) at Newcastle. At his next outing at the elite level he
won the AJC G1 Champion Stakes. His spring campaign continued in Melbourne where
he finished second behind Skalato (Semipalatinsk) in the G2 Moonee Valley Vase
and was runner-up to Hit the Roof (Maroof) in the G1 VRC Derby.
Returning in the autumn he won the G1 Canterbury Guineas (1900m), the first time
the race was run at night. The race set him up for the AJC Derby which he duly
won in a canter.
Almost a full year passed before Universal Prince won again. In the autumn of
2002 he took out the G1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill. There followed a
series of frustrations in which Universal Prince was placed behind some of the
best horses in training, culminating in his Melbourne Cup scratching.
The five-year-old retires with seven wins and 10 placings from his 30 starts
with prizemoney of almost $3 million.
Universal Prince’s dam is the Bluebird mare Biscay Bird, and she is a
half-sister to the young stallion Blevic (Scenic) who won eight races including
the G1 VRC Derby and Sires’ Produce Stakes.
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