CALL EQUINAME RETIRED Call Equiname, winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1999, has been retired, it was announced today. The 11-year-old has been restricted to just four outings since his Cheltenham victory following a succession of injury problems. The most recent came at Exeter in October when he returned with a flap of skin hanging from his off-fore after finishing third behind Bellator in the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup. The gelding will remain at trainer Paul Nicholls` Ditcheat stable as a hack. Nicholls told Teletext: 'He`s been very hard to train all through his career because of recurring injury problems. 'Although he`s sound as a pound now we don`t want to risk him any more. 'He`s been a great servant and a privilege to train - one of the best of recent years.' The son of Belfort ran 21 times in all, winning 11 times. He won two of his three starts in bumpers for Don Eddy before joining Nicholls in the 1994/5 season. A winner four times as a novice hurdler, his outings became more limited when sent over fences. He won his two starts as a novice in the 1996/7 campaign, and won his only race the following campaign at Cheltenham. Returning to action in the Victor Chandler Chase at Kempton in January 1999 he maintained his unbeaten record over fences with a neck defeat of Get Real. And he crowned his season with a length-and-three-quarter victory over Edredon Bleu in the Queen Mother Champion Chase where he was ridden by Mick Fitzgerald. He finished third behind Direct Route in the Mumm Melling Chase at Aintree the following month - his first defeat over fences - and was a shadow of his former self in his three subsequent runs.
