King Colt may not have won a feature race or broken a track record but he’ll forever hold a special place in Victorian trainer Geoff Scott-Smith’s heart.
Scott-Smith labelled King Colt a “real soldier” after announcing the ultra-consistent centurion’s fifth at Sandown Park last Thursday night would be his final racetrack appearance.
Pakenham South-based Scott-Smith, who trained King Colt for NSW owner/breeders Glenn Starr and Tanya Nieuwendyk, made the decision to retire the son of the great Brett Lee after he finished unplaced at his last three starts at Sandown.
Missing a top three finish was something of a rarity for King Colt throughout his 105-start career, which saw him victorious on 21 occasions, with 21 seconds and 18 thirds, netting $105,490 in earnings.
“He pulled up fine after his run last week and he could keep racing but he’s four years and nine months old,” Scott-Smith explained.
“He’s had a great innings and I don’t want to keep pushing him.
“He won $100,000 and never won a big race so he did it the hard way.
“He’s been a real soldier and a fantastic dog to have in the kennel.”
King Colt won six sprint races at both Sandown and The Meadows and while he didn’t appear at Group level he was a reserve for the Sale Cup Final in 2018.
“If he’d had another yard of pace early he would’ve been up there with them,” said Scott-Smith.
“He ran 29.37s at Sandown one night, which is a pretty good run, and he always ran an honest race. He basically ran in town most of the time and he ran a lot of seconds, so with a bit more luck his record could’ve been much better.
“He’s a very nice-natured dog and he was never any trouble but I’d say he was a bit of a one-man dog. If he left my side he’d be looking around.”
