James Cummings and the team at Godolphin Australia have made the decision to retire star mare, Colette.
The five-year-old mare will embark on a career as a broodmare, after a successful racing career, which saw her amass over $7 million in prizemoney.
After claiming the Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) in 2020, Colette went on to claim the $7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) later that year, before winning the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) in the spring of 2021.
The daughter of Hallowed Crown will retire as Godolphin Australia’s highest ever prizemoney earner, with a total of $7,138,055 collected across her 25 career starts.
Damien Oliver produces a peach to win his 124th G1.
COLETTE is an absolute star.
@godolphin @FlemingtonVRC pic.twitter.com/wpAP4bkedC
— Racing.com (@Racing) October 30, 2021
Colette burst onto the racing scene in February 2020, winning a 1885m Class 1 at Newcastle by more than six lengths, in what was the first of a win streak that would extend to four by the end of the Sydney Autumn Carnival, as she picked up the Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) and the Australian Oaks along the way.
Those first four victories made up 50% of her career wins, with four more victories coming across the course of the next 24 months, including the Golden Eagle, Empire Rose, Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) and Group 2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m).
The decision to retire the high-quality mare came after she disappointed in Saturday’s Group 1 Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m) at Randwick when sent out as a $4.20 favourite with online bookmakers.
After finishing last, her rider James McDonald stated that she “wasn’t in the mood”.
Colette finished with eight wins and five runner-up performances from her 25 starts, winning between 1400m and 2400m across six different racetracks.
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