by Frank Angst

Grade 2 winner McCann’s Mojave, who won at least one stakes race in each of the last five seasons, has been retired because of a tendon injury.

Owner-breeder Mike Willman said the eight-year-old Memo (Chi) horse showed a little filling in the tendon and tests confirmed the injury.

“He had never shown something like that before,” Willman said.

Willman is busy preparing for the upcoming Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park, where he serves as director of publicity. He said he and his family thoroughly enjoyed watching McCann’s Mojave race.

“He gave us the ride of our lives,” Willman said. “At times it felt like a miracle.”

McCann’s Mojave will stand at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, California. A stud fee has not yet been determined.

Bred in California by Willman and Alix Nikki Hunt, McCann’s Mojave won 12 of 35 career starts and earned $1,513,565. He won the 2004 Potrero Grande Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G2) at Santa Anita.

McCann’s Mojave is out of the stakes-winning Nordic Prince mare Joni U. Bar. Willman plans to support McCann’s Mojave with his two mares as does the horse’s trainer, Steve Specht.

“I know the toughest thing in this industry is to make a new stallion, but we’re going to give it a try,” Willman said. “I think his versatility will be appealing. … Here’s a horse that won stakes at four, five, six, seven, and eight. He has proved his durability on the racetrack.”

McCann’s Mojave secured stakes wins on dirt, turf, and synthetic surfaces.

Frank Angst is senior writer for Thoroughbred Times