Dig Deep has been retired.
The Deep Field six-year-old ran his final race in last Sunday’s Mt Barker Sprint (1300m) when unplaced.
Described by co-trainers Dan and Ben Pearce as honest and competitive, Dig Deep claimed his biggest scalp as a two-year-old when he won the 2019 G2 Karrakatta Plate (1200m).
Ridden by Jarrad Noske, Dig Deep, at just his third start, held off the fast-finishing Tinsnip by a neck with Miss West Coast third after a difficult wide run.
Bought for $100,000 at the Magic Millions Perth yearling sale, Dig Deep won five races from 40 starts and a touch over $600,000 in prize money.
His Karrakatta Plate victory gave the Pearce brothers their first major success after forming a training partnership 18-months earlier.
Success in Perth’s major juvenile race also evoked emotional scenes for part owner, Tony Leighton, who was suffering from terminal cancer.
Leighton had been involved in racing for 60 years and Dig Deep was his first city winner as an owner.
Ben Pearce said it was the right time to retire Dig Deep.
“He’s done a great job and will have a new home now,” Pearce said.
“The way he was racing we thought there was a win around the corner and we kept persisting.
“He seems to have lost interest in racing, but he’s healthy and retires in good order.
“He won the Karrakatta in our first season as a partnership which was good for us.
“He’s a Karrakatta Plate winner who went on to win an Easingwold (1400m) and Grandstand Cup (1500m), so he wasn’t just a two-year-old.
“He’s done a super job.and brought a lot of joy to a lot of people and he deserves a good retirement.
“One of our girls at the stables has been waiting patiently for him and she was pretty excited when she got the news.”
Julio Santarelli