NEWS
QE II Challenge Cup winner Alwajeeha retired
Posted: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:10 PM
ALWAJEEHA
Photo by Z, courtesy of Keeneland
by Jeff Lowe
Alwajeeha, winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1) on October 11 at Keeneland Race Course, has been retired to owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Shadwell Farm in Lexington.
The three-year-old filly by Dixieland Band out of Ridaa, by Seattle Slew, came out of a workout on October 24 at Keeneland with filling in an ankle, Shadwell General Manager Rick Nichols said.
“We felt like she’d done enough,” Nichols said. “We were going to take her out to California for the Matriarch [Stakes (G1) on November 30 at Hollywood Park], but why run the risk of her getting hurt? She’s already a Grade 1 winner going nine furlongs on the turf; that’s what we want in our broodmare band.”
Alwajeeha scored a 1 1/4-length win in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. She also won the Appalachian Stakes (G3) at Keeneland in April and finished second in the Lake George Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course and Tropical Park Oaks at Calder Race Course.
Bred in Kentucky, Alwajeeha won three of nine career starts and earned $486,927.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
