Coolmore have announced that last year’s European Champion Two-Year-Old Little Big Bear has been retired from racing after suffering a condylar fracture on the right front fetlock.
The son of No Nay Never earned a Timeform Rating of 126p, 5lbs clear of all his rivals, for his seven-length rout in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh, as pictured above.
That victory was the culmination of four straight wins including the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes.
After pulling too hard in the 2,000 Guineas in May, Little Big Bear was dropped back to six furlongs for the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock and ran out a comfortable winner.
His next start in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot saw him run a fine second just headed close home by subsequent July Cup winner Shaquille.
“Little Big Bear is a super horse; that’s the long and the short of it,” said his trainer Aidan O’Brien.
“Different class, different gear and matured very early for a big horse. He’s big, scopey, strong, clear winded and very, very fast – a class sprinter.”
Bred by Tim Hyde senior and junior of Camas Park Stud & Summerhill, Little Big Bear realised €320,000 as a yearling at Arqana. Out of Longchamp Listed winner Adventure Seeker, Little Big Bear traces to the brilliant All Along who notched up a tremendous sequence of victories in top races on both sides of the Atlantic.
