PUNTERS have been left gutted after news emerged yet another top horse had been retired.
Former Coral-Eclipse hero and champion three-year-old Vadeni has been sent to Haras de Bonneval stud aged four.
The Prix du Jockey Club winner, who is owned by the Aga Khan, won five of his 11 races and amassed £2.3million in prize money.
He ran twice this season after finishing second to Alpinista in last year's Arc.
After 210 days off Vadeni, who was ridden by Christophe Soumillon for all bar one of his rides, finished fourth in the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp.
While the decision was made to end his career on the track following a massively disappointing run in the Irish Gold Cup at the Curragh last May.
Vadeni's crowning moment arguably came in the Sandown stunner, with Soumillon pulling off an epic celebration as he passed the post on the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained horse last year.
Georges Rimaud, manager for the Aga Khan Studs in France, said: "We are delighted to have Vadeni join the team at Haras de Bonneval, and he will come to stud with a very exciting profile.
"A Stakes winner at two, he showed a fantastic turn of foot to win the Prix du Jockey Club by a record five-length margin at three, proved the best of a stellar field in the Eclipse Stakes, and placed in both the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Irish Champion Stakes.
"He showed a great constitution and temperament that enabled him to perform with distinction at the highest level not just in France but also in Ireland and the UK.
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"He is everything you would want in a racehorse – precocious, fast, sound and consistent, and a dual Group 1 winner.
"After two busy seasons, he ran a great race to come second in the Arc in testing conditions on his first try at 12 furlongs, and it possibly took more out of him than we thought.
"We have therefore taken the decision to retire him now and focus on the next chapter ahead of him.
"Like Siyouni he hails from a prolific Lagardère family that consistently produces good horses, and he is bred on the successful cross of Galileo and Monsun – so he boasts an excellent pedigree to go with his race record."
One punter reacted to the news by writing online: "That's a shame. He was a brilliant horse."
Another wrote: "There won't be many good older horse left at this rate. Another retired!"
Vadeni's retirement comes the day after Charlie Appleby announced Modern Games' career was over – the fourth Godolphin horse retired in just 53 days.
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