Joseph O'Brien's three-time Group 1 winner Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett) will not race again and is set to embark on a stud career once recovering from the injury which last month ruled him out of a second tilt at the G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup.In total, Al Riffa won five of his 21 races and ran in nine different countries, with his career earnings exceeding $1.8 million. It will be four years ago on Friday that he made the breakthrough at the top level in the National Stakes at the Curragh, with his other Group 1 triumphs coming later in the 2024 Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten and last year's Irish St. Leger back at the Curragh.Initially owned by the Al Riffa Syndicate and later in partnership with Masaaki Matsushima, Al Riffa was purchased by Australian Bloodstock for a reported seven-figure sum in the aftermath of his Irish St. Leger success and went on to finish seventh when burdened with top weight in that year's Melbourne Cup.The six-year-old was last seen finishing third when trying to win July's G2 Curragh Cup for the second consecutive year, with Australian Bloodstock's Jamie Lovett confirming the intention to retire him after his recent injury was found to be more severe than was originally communicated.“Unfortunately, it's not good news,” said Lovett in a statement issued to Australian Bloodstock owners. “Sarah, Joseph O'Brien's vet, has scanned him again, in consultation with our vet Rob McGuinness, and unfortunately the suspensory has actually come away.“From a rehab perspective, given his age and he's quite a big masculine heavy horse, the prognosis is poor, to rehab him from a racing perspective. So, given his age and and taking advice from both vets, I think, unfortunately, the only decision to make is to retire the horse.“The injuries sustained won't affect his future career as a stallion, so that's what we need to focus on now. He's an outstandingly performed horse, he's got a big pedigree, and he's a striking-looking stallion, so he ticks every box in that regard.”Bought by O'Brien for 150,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Al Riffa is out of the unraced Galileo mare Love On My Mind, a full-sister to the dual G3 Sagaro Stakes hero Mizzou. Listed winner Moments Of Joy (Darshaan), the dam of Love On My Mind and Mizzou, is herself out of the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and G1 Prix Vermeille heroine My Emma (Marju), a half-sister to the G1 St Leger and G1 Gold Cup-winning sire Classic Cliche.Stud plans for Al Riffa are yet to be confirmed.The post Prolific Globetrotter Al Riffa Retired Due to Injury appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.