Frank Stronach’s Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Year and champion older male, has been retired after the detection of a small hairline fracture of the left front sesamoid. He will stand at Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm near Versailles, Ky.

Ghostzapper, a 5-year-old homebred son of Awesome Again–-Baby Zip, by Relaunch, scored a brilliant 6 1/4-length victory in the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) May 30, his first start since setting a track record for 1 1/4 miles in winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic–Powered by Dodge (gr. I) at Lone Star Park last October.

Following the Met Mile, it was revealed that an interest in Ghostzapper had been purchased by Jess Jackson, the California winemaker who has been extremely active in bloodstock transactions over the last year.

“After the race, he had some filling in his ankle,” trainer Bobby Frankel said. “We X-rayed it and didn’t find anything, but I wasn’t comfortable with it and wanted to make sure everything was all right. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I sent him to New Bolton (Medical Center) on Wednesday (June 8). They did a nuclear scan and found a hot spot. Then they took an X-ray of the spot and discovered a small crack. They said it was very difficult to find. He looks great and he’s walking perfect. You couldn’t tell anything was wrong with him