The three-year-old colt had an injury to his cannon bones that he could have recovered from, but there was a fear that Super Saver would not recover his racing form after such an injury, making retirement the preferable option.

While he will be put out to stud, a stud fee has yet to be named for him.

In his racing career Super Saver managed to take home $1,889,766. He also won two races and finished second in two others, including the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. In addition, he had a third place finish in the Odysseus’s Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby.

Super Saver’s retirement also comes in the wake of the departure of Bill Casner and Ken Troutt, Super Saver’s campaigners, from the WinStar partnership. Super Saver represented a major breakthrough for WInStar Farm, giving them their first Kentucky Derby winner.

While the farm had previously bred Funny Cide, the winner of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, their sale of him as a yearling prevented them from reaping any reward from it. The year he won the Derby by 2 ½ lengths, Super Saver was one of four WinStar horses. Another WinStar horse, Drosselmeyer, won the Belmont Stakes, cementing WinStar’s position.

Bred by Richard Owens’ Triple AAA Ranch of Glendale, AZ, Uh Oh Bango was to be named Iowa’s state horse of the year on May 6th, and was 21st in the list of Kentucky Derby hopefuls before his injury. With Uh Oh Bango out of the race, competition among similarly ranked horses will intensify. Only 20 horses can run in the Derby, and if more than 20 are entered, the final list will be determined by each horse’s earnings in graded stakes racing.

Up until his injury, Uh Oh Bango received significant press attention for his accomplishments. He won the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes and posted the highest Beyer Speed Figure in the nation during 2009. In 2010, he finished fourth in the Rebel Stakes, which was won by fellow Derby hopeful Lookin at Lucky.

Trainer John Sadler will now have two horses in the May 1 Kentucky Derby after his Line of David, at odds of 17-1, won the Arkansas on Saturday. Sadler will also have Sidney’s Candy at Churchill Downs.

Line of David had won his last two on grass, and had never tried dirt before Saturday.

The Grade 1 Arkansas Derby was held at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Along with the Blue Grass Stakes (also held on Saturday), it is the final Grade 1 race before the Kentucky Derby. The Derby was highly competitive, as many horses tie their chances to start in the Kentucky Derby with the outcome of this race.

The biggest question going into the race was whether a horse would emerge, who will be placed on the same level as Eskendereya, Lookin At Lucky and Sidney’s Candy (the three favorites for the Kentucky Derby). Super Saver, Noble’s Promise, and Dublin are the odds-on favorites. All three have a good chance to start in next month’s Kentucky Derby.

Noble’s Promise and Dublin were the second and third place finishers at the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes behind Lookin At Lucky. With three victories in his last six starts, Noble’s Promise is the favorite for the Arkansas Derby. This will be the first time in four races that he won’t be racing against Lookin At Lucky.
Dublin raced with a different jockey for the fifth consecutive time. After winning his first graded stakes race (the Grade 1 Hopeful), Dublin finished his next two races in 5th and 7th. His last two have been more successful, with 2nd and 3rd place finishes at the Southwest (G3) and Rebel (G2).

The following was the complete field for the Arkansas Derby, in post-position order: Super Saver, Calvin Borel, 9-5; Dublin, Terry Thompson, 7-2; Noble’s Promise, Robby Albarado, 2-1: Northern Giant, Victor Espinoza, 8-1; Uh Oh Bango, Shaun Bridgmohan, 15-1; New Madrid, Abel Castellano, Jr., 20-1; Berberis, Aaron Gryder, 30-1; Line of David, Jon Court, 15-1 and Pulsion, Corey Nakatani, 15-1.

The race is now taking place one day before the $1 million Arkansas Derby. They say that these will now be the two most important days in Arkansas sports history as it will showdown some of the sports most prolific racers. To spice it up a little bit more, the co-owner of Rachel Alexandra asked that there be a showdown of three different races between the pair of champions.

The timing of the race is in light of the need for competitors to want a prep race. It has also been done to avoid bad weather conditions that have been happening throughout the country. This allows both champion horses to be at their peak, and race to the best of their ability. The two horses have been training hard in different areas of the world, Rachel Alexandra in New Orleans, and Zenyatta at Hollywood Park.

Whatever the results, mark this date on your calendars to see racing history in action. This will be a race for the ages as both horses will likely bring their best to the table making it even more exciting for those who like horse betting.

This year USA Network and NBC will broadcast 6 Kentucky Derby races over the length of three consecutive weekends. March 27th will be the first of the prep races as the Louisana Derby from the Fair Grounds and the Lane’s End Stakes from Turfway Park will be run on the same day.

The following weekend will have NBC with another double dip as the Santa Anita Derby and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York will commerce. It is usually by this weekend that the early favorites in the Kentucky Derby are weeded out.

The last weekend of the trifecta will round out with the Arkansas Derby at Oakland Park and the Blue Grass Stakes from Keeneland. The Kentucky Derby will not be run until three weeks later. Those three weeks are always the longest in horse racing but the anticipation is worth the build up as the 136th Kentucky Derby should thrill like the memorable ones of past.