CHAMPION RETIRED 20 Oct 2022 11:05
The career of Verry Elleegant (NZ) is finally over with connections advising on Thursday that the multiple Group 1 winning Zed mare has been retired.
The mare will remain in France to be served by a Northern Hemisphere sire in 2033.
Verry Elleegant, an seven-year-old mare out of the Danroad mare Opulence, won the 2021 Group 1 Melbourne Cup over 3200m at Flemington under James McDonald, one of 11 Group 1 victories under the guidance of Rosehill’s Chris Waller.
Her first Group 1 win was the 2019 Vinery Stud Stakes and overall the mare won 16 of her 42 starts. With 12 placings she won stakes of $14.9 million.
Transferred from Waller to France and the care of Francis-Henri Graffard this year the mare was not able to repeat her Australian exploits. She was third in the Group 2 Prix Foy in September before finishing seventh in the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu, both at Longchamp. Her final start was for a ninth in the Group 1 Champions Fillies and Mares.
