SA stayer The Map leaves connections with ‘terrific memories’ following retirement after Lord Reims Stakes

A shot at Adelaide Cup redemption for The Map has come to an end with the South Australian stayer retired after her unplaced run last Saturday.

Melbourne Cup runner The Map raced for the final time last Saturday. Picture: Pat Scala/Racing Photos via Getty Images

As The Map meandered home for eighth in last week’s Lord Reims Stakes, trainers Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray shared a knowing glance.

The performance was a shadow of the horse that had taken them on the journey of a lifetime, from multiple stakes wins to the 2024 Melbourne Cup.

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A redemption arc culminating in this year’s Adelaide Cup, following a runner-up finish last year, wasn’t to be, as Clarken and MacGillivary made the decision to retire The Map.

Contrary to what the average punter may think, it was an easy decision for her handlers to make.

“It was pretty cut and dry, Dan and I looked at each other in the mounting yard and basically called it,” MacGillivray said.

“A few of the boys in the ownership were there, we said ‘that’s not The Map we know and love’.

“She’s pretty well within herself, it’s just the compounding of months of racing and working on hard tracks.

“When she’s on fire she’s got that wicked turn of foot at the end of a race, and she didn’t obviously show that on Saturday.

“She doesn’t owe us anything and she doesn’t need to prove anything.”

She is IN! 🎫

THE MAP has earned her golden ticket into the Melbourne Cup @FlemingtonVRC with a gutsy victory in the Andrew Ramsden Stakes for @Clarken_Racing@LaneDamian! 🏆pic.twitter.com/QngsMJt2Gk

— World Horse Racing (@WHR) May 18, 2024

A toast to The Map was in order behind the Morphettville grandstands on Saturday, as connections celebrated a career that reaped $870,000 in prizemoney and nine wins.

“Everyone had a drink to The Map,” she said.

“I’m sure over the next few months there’ll be more drinks to The Map – because she’s paid for plenty.”

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The six-year-old will pivot from next month’s Adelaide Cup to the paddock, she will remain at Clarken and MacGillivray’s Brinkley property for the foreseeable future, with The Map’s next chapter as a mum on the horizon.

MacGillivray has no doubt The Map, affectionately known as “Mapo” will make a “beautiful broodmare”.

“We’ll weigh up whether she’s sold privately, or whether she goes to a sale, it’s all to be decided in the next few weeks,” she said.

“She’s got plenty of life left in her, we’re really looking forward to seeing what she can do as a broodmare.

“As much as it sounds romantic to keep her and breed from her ourselves, it’s very difficult to be training and breeding at the same time.

The Map with Clarken and MacGillivray. Picture: Mark Brake

“Dan and I would love to see her to go to a stud where someone will give her the best opportunity to go to the best stallions, and be the best broodmare that she can be.

“I think she’ll make a beautiful broodmare, she’s a big scopey mare, a beautiful temperament and all the things that make a mare be a good dam.”

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The Map’s career triumphs include a win in The Macca’s Run on Melbourne Cup Day (2023), and feature wins at Morphettville in the Listed JRA Plate and Group 3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup last year.

Her biggest win was the Listed Andrew Ramsden at Flemington in 2024, which sealed her Melbourne Cup berth.

“There’s lots of terrific memories,” MacGillivray said.

“Not everyone gets that opportunity (Melbourne Cup), it’s hard to do and she did it.

“A lot of people spend their life and their fortunes trying to get there – we feel really privileged.

“I’ll miss her, I’ll really miss riding her every day when she’s in at the track.

“She’s an absolutely beautiful horse to ride and do anything with.”

Originally published as SA stayer The Map leaves connections with ‘terrific memories’ following retirement after Lord Reims Stakes