Gold Cup hero Subjectivist will stand at the Skelton family’s Alne Park Stud next year.

The six-year-old was a brilliant winner of the Royal Ascot showpiece in 2021, adding to his previous big-race victories in the Prix Royal-Oak and Dubai Gold Cup.

A career-threatening tendon injury sidelined Subjectivist for the best part of two years following his Gold Cup heroics, but he did finish an honourable third in his bid for a second victory in the two-and-a-half-mile contest this summer before being retired.

He will now be readied for a stallion career in Warwickshire in 2024 with a stud fee of £4,000.

Alne Park Stud director Grace Skelton, wife of leading National Hunt trainer Dan, said: “The addition of Subjectivist to our stallion roster is a huge leap forward for Alne Park Stud. To stand a stallion of this calibre is an immense honour.

“He will stand at an introductory fee of £4,000. We firmly believe that keeping this exceptional stallion in the UK is a real boost to British breeders and we hope that he will see plenty of support in his debut season.”

Subjectivist was initially trained by Mark Johnston, before his son Charlie took over the licence, and he added: “I always say that, when placing horses, the opposition trumps all other factors. But, very rarely, you come across a horse where the opposition isn’t a factor at all. Subjectivist was such a horse.

“In 2021, I truly believed that there wasn’t a horse in the world that could beat him at two miles or more, in any ground.

“There is less and less need for British NH (National Hunt) breeders to travel to Ireland and, with the incentives on offer in the UK, perhaps the Irish breeders will be thinking of coming over here!”

Subjectivist, an impressive winner of the 2021 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, has been retired.

The six-year-old stormed to a five-length victory at the Berkshire track two years ago, supplementing previous successes in the Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp and a Dubai Gold Cup verdict at Meydan.

However, he suffered a career-threatening tendon injury after that success – an issue which kept him on the sidelines for 618 days before returning to action in Saudi Arabia back in February.

After finishing third in the Dubai Gold Cup, Subjectivist went on to fill the same position in the Gold Cup back at Ascot, in what transpired to be his final start after his old issue flared up again.

Initially trained by Mark Johnston before he transferred the licence to his son Charlie, who saddled him this term, Subjectivist retires as a six-times winner with over £890,000 banked in prize money.

Johnston senior, who is now assistant trainer to his son, said: “We have known this was coming, it’s been difficult keeping him going.

“I had slightly mixed feelings about his run at Royal Ascot as while he ran a good race, I didn’t think it was as good as his best of two years ago.

“The objective was to get him to Ascot and then we hoped we might get him to Goodwood, but it has always been there, rumbling away.

“His Gold Cup win was the highlight, but he won three races on the bounce, two at Group One level and one at Group Two, with his win in Dubai being very impressive – you could say that was his purple patch, those seven or eight months.”

Subjectivist is now set to embark on a stallion career and Johnston added: “We hope he will go to stud now.

“There were a couple of people interested after his Gold Cup win and one of those has kept in touch, so we will see what happens.”

Charlie Johnston was brimming with pride after seeing Subjectivist run an admirable race in defeat in his bid for a second Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

The six-year-old was a spectacular winner when breaking Stradivarius’ stranglehold on the two-and-a-half-mile showpiece in 2021, but has suffered his fair share of injury woes since and at one stage looked more likely to retire than make it back to Berkshire.

He was well beaten on his return from the best part of two years off the track in Saudi Arabia in February, but looked more like his old self when third in the Dubai Gold Cup in March, giving connections hope that he could complete a fairytale comeback and regain his Gold Cup crown.

After going off a well backed 9-2 shot in the hands of his regular pilot Joe Fanning, Subjectivist set the fractions on the front end and refused to give in once passed by the eventual winner Courage Mon Ami and the gallant runner-up Coltrane late in the day.

In the end he was beaten four and a half lengths into third, but Johnston was nevertheless delighted to see his stable star prove he can still mix it at the highest level.

He said: “He’s run a great race. I was sort of expecting he would win, or we would be out with the washing!

“It’s been a long road and just being here is pretty special. Let’s hope he’s OK and we can go again.

“He has defied everything to be here. So we are delighted, but would always rather be there [on the winner’s podium].”

Fanning added: “He ran a great race, he was just a little bit keen earlier than I wanted to be, but he kept quick and kept finding and he’s ran blinder.

“Given the issues he’s had to come back from it was a good run.”

Meanwhile, Oisin Murphy had no complaints after 11-4 favourite Coltrane lost little in defeat when claiming the silver medal.

He said: “He relaxed great and travelled round super, and I felt I could go and win the race.

“Frankie’s come with me and it was a good battle, and Frankie came out on top.”

Charlie Johnston was brimming with pride after seeing Subjectivist run an admirable race in defeat in his bid for a second Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

The six-year-old was a spectacular winner when breaking Stradivarius’ stranglehold on the two-and-a-half-mile showpiece in 2021, but has suffered his fair share of injury woes since and at one stage looked more likely to retire than make it back to Berkshire.

He was well beaten on his return from the best part of two years off the track in Saudi Arabia in February, but looked more like his old self when third in the Dubai Gold Cup in March, giving connections hope that he could complete a fairytale comeback and regain his Gold Cup crown.

After going off a well backed 9-2 shot in the hands of his regular pilot Joe Fanning, Subjectivist set the fractions on the front end and refused to give in once passed by the eventual winner Courage Mon Ami and the gallant runner-up Coltrane late in the day.

In the end he was beaten four and a half lengths into third, but Johnston was nevertheless delighted to see his stable star prove he can still mix it at the highest level.

He said: “He’s run a great race. I was sort of expecting he would win, or we would be out with the washing!

“It’s been a long road and just being here is pretty special. Let’s hope he’s OK and we can go again.

“He has defied everything to be here. So we are delighted, but would always rather be there [on the winner’s podium].”

Fanning added: “He ran a great race, he was just a little bit keen earlier than I wanted to be, but he kept quick and kept finding and he’s ran blinder.

“Given the issues he’s had to come back from it was a good run.”

Meanwhile, Oisin Murphy had no complaints after 11-4 favourite Coltrane lost little in defeat when claiming the silver medal.

He said: “He relaxed great and travelled round super, and I felt I could go and win the race.

“Frankie’s come with me and it was a good battle, and Frankie came out on top.”