By DRF.com
ALBANY, Calif. (Dec. 27, 2023) — California-bred Ward ‘n Jerry, a graded stakes winner in 2020 who gained a following in California because of his longevity, was retired on Tuesday at the age of 10.
Ward ‘n Jerry was scheduled to start in a $10,000 claimer at Golden Gate Fields in the day’s eighth race, but was withdrawn at the insistence of owners and breeders Larry and Marianne Williams.
“We got to worrying that he would get claimed and end up somewhere we wouldn’t like it,” Dan Kiser, racing manager for the Williamses, said on Wednesday. “We decided not to take the chance.”
Tuesday’s race would have been Ward ‘n Jerry’s final start in California anyway. Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita, both owned by 1/ST Racing, have a rule allowing horses to race only through their 10-year-old seasons.
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Since racehorses have official birthdays on Jan. 1, Ward ‘n Jerry will be ineligible to race at those venues after Sunday. Not all tracks in other states have the same policy, leading to concern that Ward ‘n Jerry could be sent outside of California.
Ward ‘n Jerry, by Lucky Pulpit, won 10 of 39 starts and earned $522,785 under the direction of trainers Mike Puype and Steve Specht. Ward ‘n Jerry’s biggest win was the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at Santa Anita in March 2020, which was held days after the track banned spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is Ward ‘n Jerry’s second retirement. He was announced as retired in early 2022 because of a minor injury but returned to training with Specht at the end of that year.
For Specht this year, Ward ‘n Jerry won 2 of 9 starts, ending his career on a two-race winning streak in a $10,000 claimer on Oct. 30 and a $12,500 claimer on Dec. 2.
“He’s a neat horse to be around,” Specht said on Tuesday.
Specht was confident that Ward ‘n Jerry would have won on Tuesday.
“They scratched a cinch,” he said.
Ward ‘n Jerry is scheduled to be sent to a layup farm in Vacaville, Calif., in coming days where he will reside until early next month when he is transferred to a farm in Eagle, Idaho, northwest of Boise.
Kiser said that Ward ‘n Jerry will have a roommate in the Idaho farm’s pasture in his 13-year-old half-brother U’narack, a stakes winner at Del Mar in 2013