Though Caleb's Posse fell a nose short to Shackleford in the Met Mile, he easily beat that rival in the BC Dirt Mile (Breeders' Cup Ltd.)

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb's Posse has been retired after exiting the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap with an injury and will enter stud in 2013 at Robert N. Clay's Three Chimneys Farm, it was announced Thursday.

"We discovered a non-displaced fragment in his left knee after the Met Mile," owners Everett Dobson and Don McNeill said. 

"We were hopeful that some time off would resolve the situation, but recent radiographs have revealed that surgery to remove the chip will mean that he could not return to the racetrack this year. He has proven his brilliance on the track, and now we want to give him a chance to pass on that brilliance in the breeding shed."

Caleb's Posse was a stakes winner and graded stakes performer at ages two, three and four, and was a close runner-up by only three votes for 2011 Eclipse champion three-year-old male honors. He amassed $1,423,379 in earnings from his 19-8-5-2 line.

Caleb's Posse captured the King's Bishop at Saratoga last season prior to his BC Dirt Mile triumph (NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography)

Caleb's Posse had raced three times this season, suffering near-miss seconds in each. A neck runner-up in the Grade 3 Tom Fool, he came up a nose shy in both the Grade 1 Carter Handicap and Met Mile. His connections had hoped his 2012 campaign would culminate this fall with a defense of his 2011 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile title.

Bred in Kentucky by McNeill, Caleb's Posse is out of the McNeill-bred and raced mare Abbey's Missy, by Slewacide, who is a three-quarter sister to multiple Grade 3-winning millionaire Mr. Ross.

"We are thrilled that Caleb's Posse is coming to Three Chimneys," Robert Clay said," adding that he was a "brilliant miler."

"He is a quality individual that will cross well with a variety of pedigrees. We expect him to be a very popular commercial sire."