Grey Lag - Later Career

Later Career

Like many horses (Sir Barton, for one), Grey Lag suffered with bad feet. After losing a few races at ages 4 and 5, he retired to stud. Like several other notable horses before and after him (Black Gold for example), he had fertility problems at stud, and so was returned to the track at 9 and 10 years of age. He won his two starts at 9, and one of his starts at 10, and was then once again retired. This time he was given to a veterinarian as a riding horse, but the vet died soon afterwards, and Grey Lag was sold at the estate auction.

Grey Leg changed ownership quite a few times until he ended up competing in $1,000 claiming races in Canada. He seldom won one and he wasn't claimed. The last purse money ever recorded for a son of Star Shoot was the $40 Grey Lag earned in one of those races—he'd finished third. Harry F. Sinclair, who'd gone to prison for his role in the Teapot Dome oilfield scandal, was not anxious for more bad publicity. There was an outcry, however and Sinclair bought him back.