Patch Adams, who won back-to-back Grade 1 races this summer at Saratoga Race Course, has been retired to WinStar Farm for the 2026 breeding season after sustaining an injury during preparations for the Breeders’ Cup, according to a press release.
Patch Adams won the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial in his last start Aug. 23. Before that he won the Grade 1 Woody Stephens. Both races were at Saratoga.
Patch Adams, a 3-year-old son of Into Mischief, raced for his breeder WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.
Patch Adams last worked Oct. 4 at Churchill Downs, covering five-eighths in 1:01.20.
“Patch Adams had a straightforward lateral condylar fracture in his right hind that went back together extremely well, and he can race or breed without any notice of the fracture in 2026,” Dr. Larry Bramlage of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, said in a release from WinStar. “He has an excellent prognosis.”
Trainer Brad Cox told Daily Racing Form shortly after the Jerkens that he might train Patch Adams up to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Patch Adams had covered the seven-furlong distance of the Jerkens in 1:21.61 to earn a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 103 .
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“The speed and heart he showed in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial not only established him as the leading 3-year-old sprinter in the country, but drew a lot of attention from the breeding public and solidified our decision to stand him in 2026,” Elliott Walden, president of WinStar Farm, said in the release. “While he could still run at 4, we have made the difficult decision to stick with our original plan to retire him.”
Patch Adams won the seven-furlong Woody Stephens in 1:21.36, the fastest time for the distance during the 2025 Saratoga meet, according to the press release. Earlier in his career, Patch Adams won a maiden special weight at seven furlongs in a striking 1:20.77 last November at Churchill Downs. According to the release, his time was 0.33 seconds short of the track record set by champion Groupie Doll in 2012.
“I’ve had good two-turn colts in my career like Essential Quality and Cyberknife, but Patch Adams is the fastest 3-year-old I have ever had,” Cox said in the release. “When he won by 10 lengths going seven furlongs in 1:20.77, I knew he would be a Grade 1 winner.”
Patch Adams retires with four wins from seven starts and earnings of $772,585. He is from the stakes-winning Distorted Humor mare Well Humored. It’s the female family of Well Armed.
A stud fee for Patch Adams will be announced at a later date, according to WinStar.
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