The racing career of superstar colt All Too Hard is over 

The racing career of superstar colt All Too Hard is over with his owners, Vinery Stud, today announcing his retirement effective immediately.

The news of the three-year-old’s colt departure comes a month after his champion half-sister Black Caviar was retired following her 25th win.

Like his unbeaten sibling, the Team Hawkes-trained All Too Hard closed out his career with a Group 1 victory at Sydney’s Royal Randwick, winning the All Aged Stakes (1400m) on 27 April.

In a 12 start career, the son of Casino Prince posted seven wins, including a trio of Group 1 victories at Caulfield in the Orr Stakes, Futurity Stakes and Caulfield Guineas.

He was also runner-up in this season’s Cox Plate – a race in which the first three placegetters have now been retired with Ocean Park and Pierro recently bowing out of racing too.

All Too Hard’s early retirement has robbed Australian and UK fans off the opportunity to see the colt strive to emulate his sister with a famous Group 1 victory at Royal Ascot in June.

Vinery Stud General Manager, Peter Orton, said connections had given the decision and a trip to the UK much consideration, but in the end they decided that the horse had nothing left to prove.

“It was a difficult decision for us to retire a colt with so much more to offer as a racehorse. (But) All Too Hard has done all we could have asked for and more,” Orton said.

Trainer John Hawkes, who was on record as saying he wanted the horse to continue racing into next season, was disappointed with the decision, but understood the commercial reality of it.

“We are obviously very disappointed to see All Too Hard retire, but we understand the owners’ decision to do so,” Hawkes said.

“You don’t see too many colts as good as this horse come along. He is a super horse, he has shown just what he is capable of doing and would have potentially gone on to win many more top class races and in doing so establish himself as one of the greats.”

All Too Hard, who retires as the third highest rated colt in the world at this time, will stand his debut season at Vinery Stud in New South Wales for a fee of $66,000.

With All Too Hard and Black Caviar now retired, much anticipation awaits the debut of their two-year-old sibling Belle Couture who is currently in work with Danny O’Brien at Flemington. (www.racingvictoria.net.au)