Ariana G Retired

Trainer Jimmy Takter has informed Trot Insider that two-time O’Brien Award winner Ariana G 4,1:50.2 ($2,600,995) has been retired from racing.

The winner of 26 of 40 starts and over $2.6 million in purses will go down in harness racing history as one of the top female trotters of all time. She also currently co-owns Canada’s three-year-old trotting filly record, as her 1:51.4 clocking in the 2017 Elegantimage Stakes final is tied with Manchego’s 1:51.4 mile from two months ago.

Ariana G, who is a four-year-old daughter of Muscle Hill, dominated her division at two and three and was rewarded with both O’Brien and Dan Patch Awards at the end of those campaigns. She won nine of her 11 juvenile starts and 12 of her 15 sophomore starts.

Ariana G’s juvenile victories included the $600,000 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Trot, the $275,880 Peaceful Way Stakes and the $306,500 Jim Doherty. She kept on rolling at three, as she captured the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, $500,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Trot and the $385,000 Elegantimage.

Ariana G, pictured capturing the Hambletonian Oaks at the Meadowlands with Yannick Gingras in 2017

She won five of her 14 starts this year at four and banked over $618,000. She defeated male competition this year while capturing the $405,850 Hambletonian Maturity and the $250,000 Graduate, and also tasted victory after the $150,000 Dayton Trotting Derby where she lowered the track record.

Ariana G most recently raced this past Saturday in the Breeders Crown, where she raced tough from Post 8 in the $250,000 Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot. She made the lead in the second quarter of the race, but was collared in the lane and had to settle for a hard-fought fifth. She was individually clocked in 1:54.4.

Ariana G is a homebred of powerhouse Canadian breeders Marvin Katz (of Toronto, Ont.) and Al Libfeld (Pickering, Ont.).