Escape The Wind Retires

Veteran horseman Roger Mayotte announced this morning that his multiple stakes winning pacer Escape The Wind has been officially retired

at the age of 11 years old.

Escape The Wind recorded 62 wins, 25 seconds and 27 thirds in 224 starts over the course of his career to earn over $2.1 million for the Venture 2000 Stable, which consists of Mayotte and longtime friends and partners Stavros Kourgiantakis, Ross Warriner and Lou Liebenau.

“Age 11 is considered old for a racehorse of his calibre and he is not able to go as fast as he used to for higher purse money,” Mayotte told Trot Insider. “He sure doesn’t feel or look his age but he has never liked the extreme heat of summer racing. Coming into spring when the temperatures start to get hot and humid we made the decision to retire him.”

Escape The Wind’s career highlights include victories in the Summertime Pacing Series, Bluegrass Stakes, Tattersalls Stakes and Provincial Cup, and a close second place finish in the Breeders Crown during his debut season at age three. During his aged campaign, the gelded son of Artiscape-Chicole swept the Aquarius Series, won the American National, two Gold Cup titles and was second in the Graduate. He took his mark of 1:48.3 in a division of the Classic Series at Woodbine, which was a stakes, track and Canadian record at the time. A consistent feature on the WEG circuit, Escape The Wind recorded 19 Open Pace wins throughout his harness racing career.

“I wish I could turn back the clock and do it all over again,” said Mayotte, who is currently in the process of finding his stable star a good home where he can enjoy his retirement years in leisure.