Empire Maker retired

Belmont Stakes winner and leading Breeders’ Cup Classic contender Empire Maker has been retired.

The Bobby Frankel-trained colt will stand at his owner Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms near Lexington, Kentucky for the 2004 season.

The three-year-old, who foiled the Triple Crown bid of Funny Cide when he took the Belmont, suffered a bruised foot while preparing for an intended start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup last week.

“Empire Maker is the best horse I have ever trained,” Frankel told thoroughbredtimes.com. “We weren’t within 10 lengths of seeing this horse’s best race.”