Godolphin announced on Monday that their multiple Group 1 winner Avilus (GB) has been retired and will join the Godolphin Lifetime Care.

In a statement on Godolphion.com the career of Avilius was characterised by resilience, courage and determination.

A horse of great promise in France where he won two of his seven starts, Avilius became one of the stars of his generation in Australia. He matured into a multiple Group 1 winner with the versatility to win at the supreme level over distances ranging from 1,600m to 2,400m.

Avilius left the stable of his French trainer Andre Fabre in late 2017 at the end of a three-year-old year in which he had been matching strides with horses of the calibre of the four-time G1 winner Cracksman behind whom he finished second in the G2 Prix Niel at Chantilly.

That was one of three Stakes placings in France for the son of Pivotal who had won his maiden at his second start and a Listed event at his third.

“Andre Fabre had put his blood, sweat and tears into Avilius before he got to us, he had great form behind Cracksman over a mile-and-a-half and now we’re starting to put our own polish on him,” said his new trainer James Cummings.

The local conditions clearly suited Avilius who went on to win his first four starts on the bounce, among them the G3 Bart Cummings and one which earned its winner an automatic entry into the 2018 G1 Melbourne Cup.

In preparation for the Melbourne Cup, Avilius stepped out in the G1 WS Cox Plate where he ran respectably behind the Champion mare Winx.It was the form that Avilius displayed at his next preparation that confirmed his status as a superior racehorse.

He returned the following February in the G3 Carlyon Cup at Caulfield which was to become the first of four wins for the campaign that included victories on successive weekends in the Ranvet Stakes and the Tancred Stakes, both at G1 level.