16 Aug 2011
Following her lack lustre display in last weekend’s Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa, a decision has been made to retire Katie Lee.
“We won’t press on, she needed to show a little more heart on Saturday, even though she didn’t like the heavy track,” Sir Patrick Hogan told the Waikato Times.
The great highlight of Katie Lee’s career was winning the NZ 2000 Guineas/NZ 1000 Guineas double, a feat which had never been achieved in the long and illustrious history of the pair of three-year-old Riccarton Park Classics.
In both the 2000 Guineas and 1000 Guineas Katie Lee had a rocky run, but produced an undeniable finishing burst on both occasions to land the major honours, earning a cool three-quarters of a million dollars in the space of a week.
Katie Lee was prepared by Graeme and Debbie Rogerson at their Hamilton stable for Sir Patrick and Justine, Lady Hogan.
Katie Lee was bred by Denny and Mark Baker at their Hallmark Stud at Te Kauwhata in conjunction with Trevor Hurley and was a Karaka Premier Sale filly at a $340,000 price tag.
A decision on a mating for Katie Lee is yet to be decided. If she stays in New Zealand she will visit Zabeel. The other option is to travel to Australia for a mating there.
Katie Lee - 8 wins, 8 placings & NZ$1.1m in prizemoney