- Sir Michael Stoute has decided to call time on his glittering career as a trainer
- He has been champion trainer 10 times and has six Derby victories to his name
- Stoute, 78, described his successful career as a ‘great and enjoyable journey’
Sir Michael Stoute, one of the greatest trainers of the modern era, will retire at the end of the current flat season.
Though the news is not unexpected, as Stoute’s runners and winners have dropped this summer, its impact is nonetheless significant as Stoute has been such a huge figure within the sport for six decades being crowned Champion Trainer 10 times, having saddled his first winner in April 1972 – Sandal, owned by his father, became the first of more than 4000 successes.
Based at Freemason’s Lodge in Newmarket, Stoute enjoyed enormous success spearheaded by his six victories in the Epsom Derby – the first coming with the fabled but ill-fated Shergar in 1981, who spread-eagled his field by 10 lengths but was later kidnapped when he was at stud by the IRA.
His most recent Derby hero was Desert Crown in 2022, the year in which he saddled the last of his 155 Group One winners worldwide when Bay Bridge forged away with QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot – a course at which he enjoyed huge success, particularly at the Royal meeting. His tally of 82 has only been bettered by Aidan O’Brien.
This is a momentous day, as Stoute – a cricket enthusiast, born in Barbados, whose great friend is Michael Holding – and the runners he has sent out have been such a huge part for generations of racing enthusiasts, a man who turned the shaping of a thoroughbred into a work of art. His older horses, in particular, were famed for improving with age.
Legendary trainer Sir Michael Stoute (above) will retire at the end of the current flat season
Stoute enjoyed enormous success spearheaded by his six victories in the Epsom Derby
His most recent Derby hero was Desert Crown in 2022, jockeyed by Richard Kingscote (left)
There have been so many great days, one of which was saddling Estimate to win the Ascot Gold Cup for the late Queen Elizabeth in June 2013, a result and occasion that left Her Majesty unable to stop herself from showing a rare public display of emotion, smiling broadly as jockey Ryan Moore came out on top in a close finish.
In recent years, though, Stoute’s operation has been winding down and the loss of his partner, Coral Pritchard-Gordon, in August 2020 had a profound effect on the now 78-year-old.
Stoute has rarely been seen on the racecourse this year, though he was at York on August 24 when he saddled Reaching High in The Melrose Stakes for The King and The Queen, who had gone to the Knavesmire to open a new stand.
He has endured some miserable luck with his best horse Passenger, too. The colt, who had looked so brilliant when winning at Chester in May, suffered an injury when being prepared for a crack at City Of Troy in the Juddmonte International and will miss the rest of the season.
Stoute is congratulated by Queen Elizabeth II in 1981 after Shergar’s triumph at Royal Ascot
The trainer enjoys a conversation with Her Majesty and jockey Ryan Moore at Ascot in 2013
In a statement released this morning, Stoute – who was knighted in 1998 for services to tourism – said: ‘I have decided to retire from training at the end of this season.
‘I would like to thank all my owners and staff for the support they have given me over the years. It has been a great and enjoyable journey.’
