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I Do’s owners Mark Chittick and Allan Sharrock have retired their outstanding mare with no regrets.
The daughter of No Excuse Needed, who was also bred by the pair, made her last appearance when she finished fifth in Saturday’s Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham.
“She will be missed, but all good things come to an end,” Sharrock said. “She was an honest, honest mare who always tried to please and was extremely low maintenance.“We worked it out and in her 38 starts, she finished in the top four placings on 31 of these occasions.
“She just ran out of petrol on Saturday and she means too much to us to continue to race her like that. Fifteen months of work takes its toll and she has nothing left to prove.”I Do became the most successful horse to race in Waikato Stud’s colours with her 15 career wins eclipsing the tally of Lady Aloof’s 12 for the Matamata farm.
“We’re all extremely proud of her achievements,” Chittick said. “Lady Aloof was the stud’s all-time benchmark horse in terms of the most wins and it’s taken 25 years to better her achievements.“It’s been an extremely fun and enjoyable few years with co-breeder, co-owner and trainer Allan Sharrock.
“It all started thanks to Ross and Shirley Hayward loaning Allan and I their O’Reilly mare Freequence. She successfully conceived to No Excuse Needed and now some eight years and 15 wins later, I Do is ready for her next chapter, retiring to stud in-foal to Savabeel.“I have to say it’s been a masterful training effort to keep her up so long and to see her achieve what she has.”
The winner of more than $540,000, I Do’s career was crowned by her Group One success in this season’s Makfi Challenge Stakes.At her previous start, the genuine grey mare had posted an emotion-charged victory in the Gr.3 Lisa Chittick Foxbridge Plate.