Roses in May

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Roses in May


caption =
sire = Devil His Due
grandsire = Devil's Bag
dam = Tell A Secret
damsire = Speak John
sex = Stallion
foaled = 2000
country = United States Flagicon|USA
colour = Brown/Black
breeder = Margaux Farm
owner = Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey
trainer = Dale L. Romans
record = 13: 8-4-0
earnings = $5,490,187
race = Whitney Handicap (2004)
Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap (2004)
Cornhusker Breeders' Cup Handicap (2004)
Dubai World Cup (2005)
awards=
honours =
updated = April 2, 2007

Roses in May, born on February 9, 2000, is an American thoroughbred racehorse bred by Margaux Farm in Midway, Kentucky and owned during his racing career by Ken and Sarah Ramsey.

Roses in May made 13 starts and won 8 of them, placing in four. He retired with career earnings of $5,490,187, much of this money coming from his win in the 2005 Dubai World Cup.

When he was four, he won the Grade I Whitney Handicap, the Grade II Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap, and the Grade III Cornhusker Breeders' Cup Handicap. He came second in that year's (2004) Grade I Breeders' Cup Classic to Horse of the Year, Ghostzapper.

At five years of age, after placing in the Grade I Donn Handicap, won by Saint Liam, Roses in May won the Dubai World Cup. Run at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it is the world's richest horse race, offering (US$6,000,000) as a purse, and Roses in May was favoured to win in the 2,000 metre race. Trained by Dale Romans and ridden by jockey John Velazquez, Roses in May took the lead at the straight and won by three lengths.

The horse was the forty-third international winner at the 2005 Dubai International Racing Carnival. The carnival began on January 20, 2005 and concluded with the race for the Cup. In all, 200 horses and their trainers from twenty countries came to Dubai to compete for a total of US$25,000,000 in prize-money.

Roses in May was retired on August 19, 2005 when a tendon tear was discovered in his left foreleg. He now stands at Big Red Farm in Niikappu, Hokkaido, Japan at a stud fee of approximately $35,000.

The Ferdinand Fee

When Roses in May went to Japan, there was a clause in his contract called a "buy-back clause." Ever since the death of the racehorse, Ferdinand, who was sent to a slaughterhouse in Japan when his breeding days were done, the New York Owners and Breeder's Association, based in Saratoga Springs, New York, has begun asking for a small voluntary per-race charge (collected from owners of New York Breds) called the "Ferdinand Fee". These monies are intended for the Bluegrass Charities and the Thoroughbred Charities of America to help them fund race horse rescue and retirement groups. Some owners are now including buy-back clauses within their stallion contracts.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/roses+in+may2 Roses in May's pedigree with photo]