Michael Stoute, the successful British horse-racing trainer, says he is retiring this year

LONDON — Michael Stoute, one of Britain's most successful horse-racing trainers, announced Tuesday he will retire at the end of the 2024 season.

The 78-year-old Stoute has been Britain's champion trainer 10 times, won 16 British classics — including the Derby six times — and had winners in many of the world's biggest races such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Dubai World Cup and the Breeders’ Cup.

In a training career that started in 1972, Stoute will be forever associated with Shergar, the 1981 Derby winner by a record 10 lengths who was abducted from the Aga Khan’s stud in Ireland in 1983 and was never found.

“I would like to thank all my owners and staff for the support they have given me over the years," Stoute said. “It has been a great and enjoyable journey.”

Jockey Kieren Fallon, who won the Derby twice with Stoute when riding Kris Kin in 2003 and North Light in 2004, described the trainer as “a genius around his horses and a gentleman to ride for.”

“He always got the best out of a horse," Fallon said. “He was able to take a horse from a 2-year-old until they retired and keep finding improvement.”

Stoute was given a knighthood in 1998 for services to tourism in Barbados, where he was born and raised before moving to Britain in 1964, aged 19.