Grade 1 Winner Hope Road Retired from Racing

Hope Road, a grade 1-winning homebred for Barbara and Ron Perry's Cicero Farms, will be retired from racing. The news was first reported by the Perrys to Daily Racing Form's Steve Anderson. Hope Road's Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert confirmed the news to BloodHorse April 6. Hope Road, a daughter of the Perrys' grade 1-winning Marley's Freedom, last raced Nov. 30 in a dominant 6 1/2-length triumph in the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Del Mar. She posted three official workouts in January, the last of which came Jan. 23. "We talked it over with Bob," Barbara Perry told Anderson. "We thought it would be best to retire her." Perry also noted that the 5-year-old Quality Road mare may not be bred until 2027. Hope Road broke her maiden at fourth asking and after having already competed in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) in her third start. That maiden victory kicked off a four-race win streak to begin her 3-year-old season that included triumphs in the 2024 Torrey Pines Stakes (G3) and Bayakoa. At 4, Hope Road was runner-up in the Derby City Distaff (G1) and picked up two graded placings in the spring. Then at Saratoga Race Course, she took after her mother by winning the Ballerina Stakes (G1), defeating eventual Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Scylla by 2 lengths. Hope Road would then close out her career with a third in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) before taking her second straight Bayakoa. Hope Road retires with a record of 6-4-2 from 14 starts for earnings of $1,016,620.