Popular stayer Caius Chorister set for date with City Of Troy

David Menuisier’s Caius Chorister has run her final race and is set to visit City Of Troy after an admirable career on the track that saw her rise from a humble handicapper into a Group-winning stayer.

The daughter of Golden Horn is owned and bred by Clive Washbourn, with her dam Corpus Chorister also previously campaigned by the same connections.

As a young horse, Caius Chorister had a fairly inconspicuous start to her career, winning for the first time in a class six handicap off a modest mark of 53 in May 2022.

That win was the first of a sequence, however, and the bay went on to land her next four starts to progress dramatically and eventually miss out by only two lengths in the Listed Prix Joubert at Longchamp before the end of the term.

With her sights firmly raised, she mixed valuable handicaps with stakes races the following season and ended that campaign with a Group Three success when taking the Prix Belle du Nuit at Saint-Cloud by four lengths.

Last year, she lined up in many of the key staying events and though victory evaded her, she performed with great credit to go down by just a head in both the Sagaro Stakes and the Henry II – beaten by two useful stayers in Coltrane and Sweet William respectively.

She was also second to Absurde in the Chester Stakes and was deserving of further praise when fourth as the only filly in the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Champions Day in October.

The six-year-old headed to Dubai for a winter campaign that began in the Al Khail Trophy in January, but she was unplaced and was then out of the money again when contesting the Nad Al Sheba Trophy at the same track last month.

Connections have therefore decided to close the racing chapter of her life, opting to allow her to begin her second career as a broodmare – with a trip to see City Of Troy now on the agenda.

“I feel she doesn’t really handle quick ground anymore – she used to, but I think she wasn’t really happy on the track the other day,” said Menuisier.

“She had no medical issues and we really want to retire her sound, so that’s why we’ve decided to retire her now.

“She has nothing to prove to anybody, she did it the hard way – from 53 to 109 – and we want to make sure she has a great life as a broodmare.

“She rubbed shoulders against some of the best and she held her own, for a filly that is quite rare at that level in staying races.

“She’s been a star for us, let’s hope she can do really well at stud.”

Washbourn has clearly been a loyal owner to Menuisier and though a foal out of Caius Chorister and by City Of Troy would be welcome in any yard, it would be a fitting next chapter were the mare’s offspring to follow in the footsteps of his or her mother.

“City Of Troy is the plan, that’s going to be exciting and will hopefully inject a bit of speed into the stamina she has to try to produce a top mile-and-a-half horse,” Menuisier explained.

“I trained the dam, who was the first yearling I bought as a trainer, so it’s a long history already and hopefully it can continue.”