A recent staple in the Carmen Auciello stable, nine-year-old pacing stallion Physicallyinclined has been retired from racing.
Physicallyinclined concludes his racing career with 31 wins, 31 seconds and 10 thirds from 144 starts along with $855,210 in earnings.
He took his mark of 1:49 as a three-year-old in the 2015 North America Cup Consolation and was top three to close out his Ontario Sires Stakes campaign in the Super Final. He’s since been a regular on the Woodbine circuit, competing among the best and winning the Preferred eight times since joining Auciello’s stable in 2018 after a $57,500 private purchase.
“At the time, for a horse of his caliber, I thought [that price] was a steal and he really turned out to be a real great horse for us,” said Auciello, who has since remained on the ownership with partners Robert Watson and Mike Bartram.
After winning eight races and nearly $200,000 in his 2018 campaign, Physicallyinclined followed up with a career-best season as a seven-year-old with 11 wins and 16 other top three finishes while banking more than $300,000.
“He was just tough. There were so many races where at the head of the lane, he looked like he was beat, and he would just fight and fight and he’d end up winning,” said Auciello, recalling the pacer’s desire to win. “It seemed like he was going faster after the race than he was at any time in the race like he just never gave up. And there have been times where he got headed and he was a length behind at the seven-eighths pole and would come back on and win, and in the run off after the race, he would open up 10 lengths on them again. He just never quit; he never wanted to lose.”
After Physicallyinclined recovered from an injury sustained last year, Auciello decided it was time was to retire the nine-year-old when his interest in competing diminished.
“He hurt himself last year – after his last win [in August 2020], he had a fracture in his coffin bone,” said Auciello. “I knew he would recover because I've had similar injuries on horses before, and he made it back and he's actually been sound and hasn't had any issues but he just seems like he's lost a step, he's lost a bit of his desire. He's nine turning 10 and I just figured it's time.
“He’s been so good to us that I figured it's time to shut him down and give him a good home and hopefully start a new chapter with him because I really do think he has potential to be a sire somewhere.”
A son of Mach Three out of Artisticallyinclined, a full-sister to multiple stakes and O'Brien Award-winning millionaire Armbro Amoretto, Physicallyinclined previously stood in Ontario and was bred to a handful of mares in 2017.
From the limited breeding stint, five of his six offspring made it to the races with his only non-starter injured in the field as a youngster and unable to race. Auciello is hoping Physicallyinclined will have a better opportunity in the breeding shed this time around.
“He's 16, 16-one [hands]. Just a huge, long animal, wears a 63-inch hobble. Just a physical specimen,” said Auciello of the big, clean-gaited stallion. “Anyone that's ever met him knows how gorgeous of an animal he is. He's got a lot of speed and from all the foals that he threw, they were all good size. So, I really think we're going to spend the next couple months just researching some opportunities and see what might be the best fit for him.
“I think he's got all the makings of what you would want in a racehorse. Other than he is a bit older and we didn't quite get him to a million dollars… But he has a mark of [1:]49 and $850,000 made. I think he was a really inexpensive yearling back in the day when he was purchased. I think he was just a surprise to everybody but I’m just happy to have ever acquired him and had the ability to train him. It's going to be sad to see him go, but I really do think that he has a promising future breeding. If anybody ever sent a half decent mare to him, I know that he did throw a very nice individual.”
No matter the outcome, the pacer more fondly known by his barn name as ‘Doogie,’ will have a home for life with Auciello and the likes of fellow retiree Camaes Fellow.
“Around the track, everybody knows him. He's loud and he's proud, and he's likable. His nickname since he was a baby was ‘Doogie.’ As soon as you see him you know, here comes Doogie! You can hear him coming off the trailer and walking into the paddock. He's a fan favourite as far as I'm concerned; he's a paddock favourite, everybody loves him, everybody knows him. And I know if he throws half of the heart and desire and looks that he has, he will throw some nice horses.”
With Physicallyinclined’s racing career coming to a close, Auciello expressed gratitude to a number of individuals who were key to the horse’s success on track, including blacksmith Orval Annerud, regular reinsman Jonathan Drury as well as his partners Rob Watson, Mike Bartam and Armando Cappuccitti.