Noseda retires Fleeting Spirit

Jeremy Noseda has announced that high-class sprinter Fleeting Spirit has been retired.

The five-year-old mare was being prepared for a final crack at the Prix de l’Abbaye, but connections have decided it is in the best interests of the daughter of Invincible Spirit to call time on her career.

“It is with some sadness that we are announcing the retirement of Fleeting Spirit. She has been such a great servant to her owners and all of us at Shalfleet Stables,” said Noseda.

Winner of the Molecomb and Flying Childers as a two-year-old, she then won the Temple Stakes the following season.

But it was as a four-year-old that Fleeting Spirit really excelled.

She won the July Cup, beating a high-class field including Takeover Target, Paco Boy, Scenic Blast and Equiano, and also finished second in the King’s Stand, the Haydock Sprint Cup and the Abbaye.

In her two starts this season she has finished fourth in the Golden Jubilee and fifth in the July Cup.

“Fleeting Spirit proved herself to be a high-class sprinter at two, three, four and five, performing at the very top level,” added Noseda.

“Her effort to win last year’s July Cup was huge and she really has been a model of consistency. She won the 2009 Cartier Champion Sprinter award, which says it all.

“We could have tried to persist with her but that really wouldn’t have been fair on the filly.

“The wear and tear from so many big runs has taken its toll and she owes us absolutely nothing, so it seems the right thing to do by her to retire her.

“Of course, we now wish her well in her secondary career as a broodmare and, down the line, look forward to seeing her progeny at the racecourse.

“If they show just half of the ability that she possessed, then they too will enjoy success,” he told his website, www.jeremynoseda.com.