Daiwa Scarlet, a four-time Grade One winner, will retire from horse racing after being diagnosed with a career-threatening leg injury, the Japan Racing Association said Monday.
Plagued by superficial flexor tendinitis, the 5-year-old filly will be deregistered as a race horse Wednesday and become a broodmare in Chitose, Hokkaido.
Daiwa Scarlet won the Oka-sho, Shuka-sho and Queen Elizabeth Cup in 2007 and the Arima Kinen last December.
The injury forced her to withdraw from the upcoming February Stakes in Tokyo and the Dubai World Cup in late March. She won eight of her 12 career starts.
"It's a shame that this great horse has to retire," trainer Kunihide Matsuda said. "I look forward to her children in the future."