END OF AN ERA AS SIR MICHAEL CALLS IT QUITS

RACING legend Sir Michael Stoute reflected on a "great and enjoyable journey" after he announced his decision to retire yesterday.

- MELISSA JONES

The 10-time champion will bow out from a career which spanned six decades when the Flat season draws to a close.

Stoute has trained more than 4,000 winners -155 at the highest level -including Queen Elizabeth II's only Ascot Gold Cup heroine Estimate in 2013.

It was the first time a reigning monarch had taken the flagship event in the royal meeting's 207-year history-where Stoute is second in the all-time list with 82 victories.

He also prepared the ill-fated 1981 Derby titleholder Shergar, who became the subject of a great unsolved mystery when he was kidnapped from stud.