Gelded Bonfire out for year Dante Stakes winner Bonfire has been gelded and will not run again this year. The Andrew Balding-trained three-year-old was Group One-placed as a juvenile and created plenty of excitement when scoring a cosy victory in the York Group Two in May. However, he failed to fire when sixth in the Derby and fared no better in the Eclipse at Sandown, despite returning to a more conventional course. The son of Manduro took a keen hold in the early stages in the Eclipse and Harry Herbert, racing manager for owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, felt that was a sure sign all was not well with Bonfire. He said: "We have gelded him. We have just taken the view that it's the best thing to do for the horse. "Obviously it is not a decision we have taken lightly, but to have a stallion nowadays you need to have a multiple Group One winner. "It was dreadful seeing him pulling at Sandown as that was a sign that he just wasn't happy and getting a bit anxious about life. "We all discussed it - Andrew Balding, John Warren (bloodstock advisor) and I - and decided the best thing was to geld him and bring him back next year. "We will give him plenty of time to grow and mature and we think the operation will benefit him both mentally and physically. "He is quite an immature horse and you really noticed it against the older horses in the paddock at Sandown. "It's the best thing for the horse and the owners to get him back on track. "Hopefully they will have an exciting prospect to travel internationally next year."
