Kingman has been retired and will stand at Banstead Manor Stud in 2015
Last Updated: 22/09/14 7:30pm
Kingman has been retired and will stand at Banstead Manor Stud in 2015, said Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Khalid Abdullah.
The John Gosden-trained colt was being trained for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on QIPCO Champions Day but he has yet to recover from a throat infection.
Connections still hoped the three-year-old would make the showpiece race, but time has now been called on a decorated career.
Grimthorpe said in a statementt "Kingman is to be retired to Banstead Manor Stud for the 2015 stud season.
"The throat infection will still need on going treatment which will rule out the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and also the Breeders Cup.
"The stud fee of the horse that has electrified European racing in 2014 will be announced by the stud when appropriate."
The son of Invincible Spirit met with his only defeat when beaten by Night Of Thunder in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket but comprehensively took revenge on that rival in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. His other Group One victories came in the Irish 2000 Guineas, Sussex Stakes and Prix Jacque Le Marois.
Newmarket trainer Gosden labelled Kingman "the best colt I've ever trained".
He told Press Association Sport: "The QEII was probably going to be his final race, but it's a shame he's missing it.
"He's a fabulous-looking horse with a great mind on him and he had this ability to change six gears at once. He had a turbo charge that no other horse I've trained has possessed.
"It's a very rare thing to see in a horse and he's the most exciting horse I've trained.
"I trained Royal Heroine to win at the Breeders' Cup in a record time, and she was very good, but this boy would be in a different league.
"It's hard to nominate his best performance, but I suppose it's the Sussex because it was the weirdest race I've ever seen. You're not meant to spot a horse like Toronado that amount of ground when you've gone a slow pace and have not much ground to make it up in.
"The burst he showed there was extraordinary, but then he showed in the St James's Palace how good he could be when he goes through the gears.
"He was just very exciting to be around.
"We're just short of that one race with him, but that's sometimes the way it goes. He's certainly the best colt I've ever trained."
James Doyle felt "privileged" to have been associated with Kingman.
The jockey, who was on board the three-year-old colt for every race but his debut success at Newmarket, told Press Association Sport: "I've mixed emotions, but, above all else, I'm privileged to have played just a small part in his career.
"It's like anything, though, horses are not machines and they can't go on forever. He was very, very special.
"His ability to relax during a race, no matter what, and his high cruising speed set him apart. Without a doubt he's the best horse I've ever sat on."
Doyle also nominated Kingman's Sussex Stakes victory on July 30 as one of his most potent memories.
Sent off the 2-5 favourite, the partnership came from off a ludicrously slow pace within a heartbeat to strike by a length in an extraordinary encounter.
Doyle said: "That day at Goodwood was a great spectacle as it intrigued a lot of people before the race as to just how it would all pan out. The way he quickened that day was something else, and it just showed that whatever was thrown his way he could handle it."
The son of Invincible Spirit will now join the incomparable Frankel at Banstead Manor.
Kingman won seven of his eight races, including Group One triumphs in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville and the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The son of Invincible Spirit created a huge stir when winning by six lengths on his debut at Newmarket last June, setting clockwatchers into a state of near frenzy.
Gosden then sent him to Sandown for the Solario Stakes and while he was not electrifying, he was not hard pressed to win by two lengths.
That was it for his two-year-old career, but he reappeared in devastating style when successful in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 12.
He then met with the only defeat of his career, when second behind Night Of Thunder in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. On the back of that eclipse there were questions to answer, but he responded brilliantly by winning the Irish Guineas by five lengths.
He then gained his revenge on Night Of Thunder in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot before beating older horses in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
The final run of his career came in France, when he won the Prix Jacques le Marois on August 17 by two and a half lengths in demanding conditions.
He will now take up a role at Abdullah's Banstead Manor alongside the incomparable Frankel.
Bruce Raymond, racing manager to Night Of Thunder's owner, Saeed Manana, said: "From our point of view, heading to the QEII is obviously good news, but for the connections of Kingman it is awful news.
"Not just for his connections, everyone who followed racing enjoyed watching him in action.
"We've taken him on all year and not shirked him but, don't get me wrong, I can see that he was the better horse. The Guineas was just our day and not his.
"After the Guineas Kingman has gone on to prove just how good he is."