Bavaria is a 6 year old, 16 hand, bay gelding who came to us directly from his racing connections in January of 2024. After 51 races, his breeder claimed him just to see him retire and find a new home through After the Races. That's the kind of stuff we like to celebrate here!

Bavaria did race 51 times, with his last race in December of 2023. He is by Bodemeister and out of a Maria's Mon mare. This means he has a pedigree with a lot of standout names in it: Empire Maker, Toussaud, Storm Cat, AP Indy. Classy boy.

After 51 races, this warhorse retired amazingly sound. His connections believe in fully vetting them upon retirement so he had several radiographs taken to see what sort of career he'd be best suited for. Radiographs were shared with renowned surgeon Patty Hogan who said he had two chips in one knee that are not new and that he should do very well with them.

Bavaria was originally adopted in the spring of 2024 and is being returned to After the Races with some light retraining. He's reportedly done some flat work, some cross rails, some hacking but is just not the right match for his first adopter, though she's taken great care to always do right by him, including treating him for ulcers when needed. We're hoping if he comes back to us with Spring around the corner we can get him into more consistent work and find him a better match!