Breeders' Cup Mile winner More Than Looks has been retired and will begin his stud career at Lane's End Farm.
Owners Victory Racing Partners said immediately after the Breeders’ Cup that they intended to race More Than Looks as a 5-year-old next year. However, trainer Cherie DeVaux said the son of the late More Than Ready was found to have reinjured the tendon in his right foreleg, an issue that delayed his return to the races in 2024.
“It’s one of those things where he’s proven what he has,” DeVaux said. “It’s a long recovery.”
:: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.
Last year, More Than Looks began to come to hand while winning the Grade 3 Manila at Belmont, finishing third in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga behind Carl Spackler, and winning the Jefferson Cup at Churchill Downs. He was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in November 2023 at Santa Anita, beaten just two lengths in a blanket finish.
This year, DeVaux intended to start More Than Looks back early in the season at Fair Grounds, but the colt put his leg over the webbing of his stall and injured a tendon. His connections re-grouped to a Plan B, which would involve the colt peaking for the Breeders’ Cup as a third start off a layoff. Yet another audible would have to be called, as More Than Looks was entered in the Lure Stakes in August at Saratoga, which was rained off the turf. More Than Looks was supplemented to the Grade 1 Fourstardave a week later, and was a solid second to Carl Spackler off the layoff. In October at Keeneland, he was again second to that foe in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile.
In the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 2 at Del Mar, More Than Looks, under Jose Ortiz, rallied from eighth in the stretch to best Johannes and favored Notable Speech by three-quarters of a length. He finally got the better of Carl Spackler, who was sixth. It was the first Breeders’ Cup win for DeVaux, who said More Than Looks displayed talent before he ever ran.
“It just took some maturing to get him to the races,” she said. “He had always shown an immense amount of talent. For me, he showed in the [2023] Breeders Cup that he belonged with the best in the world. This year, he obviously showed that he belonged. For me, he’s a horse that doesn’t come along regularly into our stable. It’s amazing the journey he took us on to get to the Breeders’ Cup and to win it.”
More Than Looks retires with a career record of 11-5-3-1 and earnings of $1,870,715.
– additional reporting by David Grening
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.