Time called on career of Order Of St George

Order Of St George and Ryan Moore win the Gold Cup in 2016. Picture: Racingfotos.com

Aidan O’Brien has paid tribute to staying star Order Of St George after his retirement was announced on Tuesday.

The six-year-old’s 13 career wins, from 25 career starts, included two triumphs in QIPCO British Champions Series – the 2016 Gold Cup and 2017 British Champions Long Distance Cup on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot last year.

His near-misses included a short-head defeat at the hands of Big Orange in the 2017 Gold Cup. He was fourth to Stradivarius in the latest renewal.

O’Brien had been hoping to prepare Order Of St George for a potential third Irish Leger win on Sunday, but when it became clear the horse would not be ready, connections decided to call time on his racing days.

“He has had a lot of racing and we didn’t want to take any chances with him,” O’Brien said. “He has a lot of miles on his body and was getting a bit older, and that was the reason really.

“When it looked like he wasn’t going to make the Curragh, we made the decision and he was always going to go to stud anyway.

“He was a great horse. He had a lot of class, handled all kinds of ground and all kinds of trip. He’s a big, clear-winded horse and a big, good moving, scopey horse.”

He also had the pace to finish third and fourth in the past two runnings of Prix de l’Arc de Triomph.

The son of Galileo accumulated almost £2 million in prize money and will stand as a National Hunt stallion for Coolmore in 2019.