Anyone who witnessed Mendelssohn winning the UAE Derby-G2 at Meydan can only regard his retirement with both regret and excitement. Certainly, he beat little in that field, but winning any Derby by 18 ½ lengths indicates a special kind of talent. And this was after he took the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-G1 the previous year. Word was that the Coolmore gang was desperate to get him a Grade One win on dirt in this country, to improve his popularity and fee at stud, but he disappointed last month in the Cigar Mile-G1, and could only hit the board in the Dwyer S.-G2, the Travers S.-G1 and the Jockey Club Gold Cup-G1, though he was usually favored to win. The extremely handsome colt brought three million dollars as a Keeneland September yearling in 2016, and being a half-sibling (or a little more, given the Storm Cat dose that seems magical with blue hen dam Leslie’s Lady) to both leading sire Into Mischief and multiple Champion Beholder guarantees interest in him as a stud. Now, he is retired to Ashford Stud/Coolmore America, and will stand the 2019 season for $35,000.

The victim of terrible luck in both the Kentucky Derby-G1 and the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1, Mendelssohn retires with a bankroll of $2,542,137. Being by the late Scat Daddy, and out of such a prolific dam, insures that his book will fill rapidly. His good looks certainly help—he is big and muscular, with a beautiful head and, strikingly, almost black coloration. I, for one, look forward to seeing him in the flesh at Ashford, and wouldn’t hesitate to breed a mare to him. I saw that UAE Derby, and it took my breath away.

-- Roberta Smoodin