Outstanding three year-old sprinter Yes Yes Yes has been retired to stud due to injury, the Everest winning son of Rubick to stand at Coolmore Australia in 2020.
Yes Yes Yes was spelled after winning the $14million Everest (1200m) back in October and had been training strongly for his projected return in the Group I VRC Lightning Stakes, however an exhibition gallop planned for last Saturday was abandoned when the colt showed signs of inflammation in a foreleg.
His trainer Chris Waller released a statement on Monday advising vets found the worst possible scenario, reporting the valuable colt had a “small lesion in a tendon in his left front leg”.
“Yes Yes Yes does not present as lame or sore,” Waller’s statement read.
“However, despite it being at the minor end of the scale of a tendon injury, the vet does assure me that if we were to push on with his campaign, it could quickly become a more significant problem and, as with any horse, this cannot be contemplated.”
Waller’s statement advised Yes Yes Yes would be off the scene for a minimum of nine months but the tendon would “always be at risk of further injury” and could cause other issues as the sprinter would compensate for the problem by putting stress on his other legs.
“It comes as a tough day to notify connections of Yes Yes Yes and supporters of racing that it is in the best interests of the horse that he be retired,” the statement read.
“This decision has been made back on a number of well-known veterinary facts in addition to expert advice from around the world.”
Coolmore purchased a large stake in the colt prior to last year’s Golden Slipper, so Yes Yes Yes will stand alongside his sire Rubick at Coolmore Stud in the 2020 breeding season.
He won four of his eight starts, including the Group II ATC Todman Stakes, while The Everest prizemoney pushed his racetrack earnings to more than $7.1 million.
Coolmore's Tom Magnier issued the statement below.
"In the wake of today’s news surrounding the retirement of Yes Yes Yes, Coolmore and partners would like to express to the whole Chris Waller Racing team our sincere thanks and huge appreciation for an outstanding job done.
Yes Yes Yes’s exhilarating Everest victory will long live in the memory of all who witnessed it and we feel privileged to have been a part of the exciting journey on which this electrifying animal and the dedicated team at Chris Waller Racing took us.
For this talented Gr.2 Todman Stakes-winning two-year-old to have trained on at three to demolish 10 Group One winners in probably the best field of sprinters ever assembled in Australia underlines yet again the extreme professionalism and expertise of Chris and his team, as well as the inspired riding of winning jockeys Blake Shinn and Glen Boss.
As disappointed as we are that this - thankfully minor - injury prevents our being able to show off Yes Yes Yes on the international stage at Royal Ascot in June, it is to Chris and his team, including the horse’s devoted carer Mick Channon Jnr that our thoughts go out. For them a wonderful journey has ended; for us another is just beginning.
Like all at Chris Waller Racing and anyone else ever involved with this son of Rubick, we are certain that Yes Yes Yes takes to his new career at stud credentials that will see him succeed in transmitting to his progeny the same qualities of speed and precocity, allied with a wonderful temperament, that took him to the pinnacle of achievement on the track.
At Coolmore, as at Chris Waller Racing, the welfare of the horses always comes first and Yes Yes Yes can look forward to a healthy and happy stud career in the hands of horsemen equally and absolutely dedicated to his care."
