Graded Stakes Winner, Fan Favorite Skelly Retired

Fan favorite Skelly has been retired from racing, Frank Alosa, bloodstock agent for Red Lane Thoroughbreds, confirmed Dec. 15. The hard-knocking 6-year-old gelding campaigned by Red Lane Thoroughbreds, which includes Chris Hicks and John Sellers, won 12 of his 25 starts and retired with a record of 12-7-1. His connections could always count on him to lay it all on the line. "He's retiring sound, he's retiring happy, he's healthy," Frank Alosa said. "After his summer and fall campaign, Chris Hicks, who's the managing partner of Red Lane Thoroughbreds, myself, and (trainer) Steve Asmussen, kind of got together and we laid out sort of a planned retirement. Skelly has taken us all on a hell of a ride. They wanted to make sure we did right by him." Skelly's last start came Dec. 13 when he finished fifth in the Ring The Bell Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Alosa picked out Skelly as a yearling in 2020 at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase Sale for $250,000. He was drawn to the horse primarily because the colt was from the first crop of Practical Joke. Skelly was then sent to Danny Pish in Texas, who was very high on the colt and recommended Red Lane sell the horse as a 2-year-old in training because he recognized the horse's natural talent and ability. At the beginning of his 2-year-old year, Skelly went to Joe Pickerell's Pick View Farm near Ocala, Fla., who consigned the colt at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where he failed to meet his reserve, attracting a final bid of $350,000, and the rest is history. Skelly had an affinity for Oaklawn Park, where he won 10 times, including back-to-back runnings of the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) in 2023-24. He won stakes races from age 4-6, with six of his seven stakes wins coming at Oaklawn. He took his connections on an exciting ride, traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) in 2024, where he finished second behind Remake (JPN), and Del Mar for the 2024 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). Alosa said Skelly will get some downtime and leave it up to the gelding to decide where he will be the happiest, whether it be ponying on the track or living in a retirement field. "He's done so much for us," Alosa said. "As horses get older, some of them get better, some of them lose a step, so instead of trying to figure that out, we just wanted to make sure he goes into retirement happy and healthy, and he can either find a second career, or he can live out his days, enjoying grass. "The immediate plan (for him) is he'll ship from Oaklawn to Ocala, Florida. He'll go to Joe Pickerell's farm. Joe and Danny have been big supporters of his career, and they've sort of been along for the ride with Skelly." Alosa was full of praise for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and his team as he reflected on Skelly's illustrious four-year career. "Steve Asmussen and his team made Skelly," he said. "Skelly is Skelly, but their training, their time, their energy is a testament to horses like him. He's an incredible horse, and we have all been very fortunate to be a part of Steve Asmussen's team, to how they've managed him, and how they've taken care of him, and in a lot of ways, just kept him happy and healthy. "His main morning rider is an exercise rider named Adolfo Garcia; he gets on him pretty much every day. He probably knows Skelly better than Skelly knows Skelly. It's a lot of testament to Darren Fleming, Scott Blasi, Sarah Campion, Steve's team, and his main assistants there; (jockey) Ricardo Santana, who's been aboard him for every stakes win. It was truly a team effort."